cted
by the mental faculty which we call imagination. If some great poet
or painter should feel hurt that we require from his goddess such an
office; if he shrugs his shoulders at the notion that a sharp gamekeeper
must necessarily excel in imagination, we readily grant that we only
speak here of imagination in a limited sense, of its service in a really
menial capacity. But, however slight this service, still it must be
the work of that natural gift, for if that gift is wanting, it would
be difficult to imagine things plainly in all the completeness of the
visible. That a good memory is a great assistance we freely allow, but
whether memory is to be considered as an independent faculty of the mind
in this case, or whether it is just that power of imagination which here
fixes these things better on the memory, we leave undecided, as in many
respects it seems difficult upon the whole to conceive these two mental
powers apart from each other.

That practice and mental acuteness have much to do with it is not to
be denied. Puysegur, the celebrated Quartermaster-General of the famous
Luxemburg, used to say that he had very little confidence in himself
in this respect at first, because if he had to fetch the parole from a
distance he always lost his way.

It is natural that scope for the exercise of this talent should increase
along with rank. If the hussar and rifleman in command of a patrol must
know well all the highways and byways, and if for that a few marks, a
few limited powers of observation, are sufficient, the Chief of an Army
must make himself familiar with the general geographical features of a
province and of a country; must always have vividly before his eyes
the direction of the roads, rivers, and hills, without at the same time
being able to dispense with the narrower "sense of locality" Orisinn.
No doubt, information of various kinds as to objects in general, maps,
books, memoirs, and for details the assistance of his Staff, are a great
help to him; but it is nevertheless certain that if he has himself a
talent for forming an ideal picture of a country quickly and distinctly,
it lends to his action an easier and firmer step, saves him from a
certain mental helplessness, and makes him less dependent on others.

If this talent then is to be ascribed to imagination, it is also almost
the only service which military activity requires from that erratic
goddess, whose influence is more hurtful than useful in oth