in the South and West of our
conlinental empire who have hardly ever seen a rock bigger than a man's
body, and who can, except by the aid of pictures, have no idea of a
river hemmed in by mountains. The view given in this book of the
localities in 1780, after a drawing made at the time by a French
officer, is more valuable in this respect, we think, than for the
historical purpose; and we should have preferred a similar view of the
place as it now appears.

In common with all institutions which are the means of power and
influence, the Academy has been regarded with jealousy. It has
occasionally been assailed by an hostility which must always exist, and
which its friends should always be prepared to meet. Captain Boynton has
fairly stated and answered the objections commonly advanced. Among those
recently put forth is the complaint that no great military genius has
been produced from the Academy. The question might be asked, Does ever
any school produce the genius? It is contrary to the definition of
genius to be produced by such instrumentality. If no such military
phenomenon has been seen, the only inference is, that the genius was not
in the country, or that the circumstances of the country gave no
opportunity for its development; and the question is, Should we, in the
absence of genius, have done better without such an academy to educate
the available talent of the country to military service? Goethe has
said, that, to figure as a great genius in the world's history, one must
have some great heritage in the consequences of antecedent events,--that
Napoleon inherited the French Revolution. Though Napoleon developed
military art beyond his predecessors, there is no reason to suppose that
a soldier with natural endowments equal to his could now become the
inspirer of a similar degree of progress. The ordinary method of
appointment of cadets is described and vindicated by the author. While
it does not appear, _a priori_, to be the best possible, it must be said
that it is hard to devise any better one. It is always to be borne in
mind that appointment does not by any means involve graduation. Enough
have graduated to supply the wants of the army in ordinary times, and
these have been selected from about three times the number of
appointees. It is often said that equally competent persons would offer
themselves from civil life. To maintain this, it must be held, either
that the education given by the Academy is not of i