y known as the Fishguard, or Fishgard, expedition;
and of the formation of the first 'Army of England,' a designation
destined to attain greater celebrity in the subsequent war, when
France was ruled by the great soldier whom we know as the Emperor
Napoleon. The various documents are connected by Captain Desbriere
with an explanatory commentary, and here and there are illustrated
with notes. He has not rested content with the publication of
MSS. selected from the French archives. In preparing his book he
visited England and examined our records; and, besides, he has
inserted in their proper place passages from Captain Mahan's works
and also from those of English authors. The reader's interest in
the book is likely to be almost exclusively concentrated on the
detailed, and, where Captain Desbriere's commentary appears,
lucid, account of Hoche's expedition. Of course, the part devoted
to the creation of the 'Army of England' is not uninteresting;
but it is distinctly less so than the part relating to the
proceedings of Hoche. Several of the many plans submitted by
private persons, who here describe them in their own words, are
worth examination; and some, it may be mentioned, are amusing
in the _naivete_ of their Anglophobia and in their obvious
indifference to the elementary principles of naval strategy.
In this indifference they have some distinguished companions.

We are informed by Captain Desbriere that the idea of a hostile
descent on England was during a long time much favoured in France.
The national archives and those of the Ministries of War and
of Marine are filled with proposals for carrying it out, some
dating back to 1710. Whether emanating from private persons or
formulated in obedience to official direction, there are certain
features in all the proposals so marked that we are able to classify
the various schemes by grouping together those of a similar
character. In one class may be placed all those which aimed at
mere annoyance, to be effected by landing small bodies of men, not
always soldiers, to do as much damage as possible. The appearance
of these at many different points, it was believed, would so
harass the English that they would end the war, or at least so
divide their forces that their subjection might be looked for
with confidence. In another class might be placed proposals to
seize outlying, out not distant, British territory--the Channel
Islands or the Isle of Wight, for example. A third cl