When powder was none, nor cannon, but brute catapultae, 81 Blind rams, brainless wild asses, the stony slinger of huge stones.[16] Iron was lord of the world; iron reigned, man was his engine; But now the rule is reversed, man binds and insults over iron. Together did they, young tutor, young pupil, Augustus, Adolphus, Range over history martial, or read strategical authors, Xenophon, Arrian, old Polybius, old Polyaenus (Think not these Polys, my boy, were blooming Pollies of our days!), And above all others, they read the laurel'd hero of heroes, Thrice kingly Roman Julius, sun-bright leader of armies, Who planted his god-like foot on the necks of a whole generation. 91 Such studies, such arts were those by which young Harry Delancey Sought to discharge the trust which to him the Lady of Arnstein Confided with hopes maternal; thus trained, he hoped that Adolphus Would shine in his native land, for high was his place in the empire. EDITOR'S NOTE.--This was, of course, written for _Blackwood's Magazine_; but it never appeared there. FOOTNOTES: [12] 'That tamer of housemaids': [Greek: Hektoros ippodamoio]--of Hector, the tamer of horses ('Iliad'). [13] 'On pinion of expectation.' Here I would request the reader to notice that it would have been easy for me to preserve the regular dactylic close by writing '_pinion of anticipation_;' as also in the former instance of '_many a dark December_' to have written '_many a rainy December_.' But in both cases I preferred to lock up by the massy spondaic variety; yet never forgetting to premise a dancing dactyle--'many a'--and 'pinion of.' Not merely for variety, but for a separate effect of peculiar majesty. [14] Alluding to a ridiculous passage in Thomson's 'Seasons': 'Delightful task! to teach the young idea how to shoot.' [15] All these arts, viz., teaching the horse to fight with his forelegs or lash out with his hind-legs at various angles in a general melee of horse and foot, but especially teaching him the secret of 'inviting' an obstinate German boor to come out and take the air strapped in front of a trooper, and do his duty as guide to the imperial cavalry, were imported into the Austrian service by an English riding-master about the year 1775-80. And no doubt it must have been horses trained on this learned system of education from which the Highlanders of Scotland derived their terror of cavalry. [16] 'Blind rams, brainless wild asses,' etc. The 'arietes,' or battering-rams with iron-bound foreheads, the 'onagri,' or wild asses, etc., were amongst the poliorcetic engines of the ancients, which do not appear to have received any essential improvement after the time of the brilliant Prince Demetrius, the son of Alexander's great captain, Antigonus. _XIII. SOME THOUGHTS ON BIOGRAPHY._