ships, that is--"have no value as lessons for the days of
steam and armor." Contrast with such an utterance the saying of the
great master of the art,--Napoleon: "If a man will surprise the
secrets of warfare, let him study the campaigns of Hannibal and of
Caesar, as well as those of Frederick the Great and my own."

Comprehension of warfare, therefore, consists, first, in the
apprehension and acceptance--the mental grasp--of a few simple general
principles, elucidated and formulated by admitted authorities upon the
subject, and, second, in copious illustration of these principles by
the application of them to numerous specific instances, drawn from
actual experiences of war--from history. Such illustration, adequately
developed by exposition of facts and of principles in the several
cases, pointing out, where necessary, substantial identity underlying
superficial diversity, establishes gradually a body of precedents,
which reinforce, by all the weight of cumulative authority, the
principle that they illuminate. Thus is laid the substantial
foundation upon which the Art of War securely rests. It is perhaps
advisable--though it should be needless--to say that, when a student
has achieved such comprehension, when his mind has mastered the
principles, and his memory is richly stored with well-ordered
precedents, he is, in war, as in all other active pursuits of life,
but at the beginning of his labors. He has girded on his armor, but he
has not yet proved it,--far less is qualified to boast as one about to
put it off after a good life's fight. It remains yet to be seen
whether he has the gifts and the manhood to use that which he has
laboriously acquired, or whether, as happens with many other men
apparently well qualified, and actually well furnished with the raw
material of knowledge in various professions, he will be unable to
turn power into success. This question trial alone can decide in each
individual case; but while experience thus forces all to realize that
knowledge does not necessarily imply capacity to use it, that there
may be foundation upon which no superstructure will be raised,
few--and those not the wisest--are inclined to dispute that antecedent
training, well-ordered equipment, where other things are equal, does
give a distinct advantage to the man who has received it. The blaze
of glory and of success which, after forty years of patient waiting,
crowned the last six months of Havelock's life, raising