oth a fly from her sleeping child. The bow does not appear to have been
extensively used in later times in either the Greek or Roman armies. The
ferocious Spartan preferred the close combat with manual weapons, the
Athenian won his glory upon the sea, and it was with the pike that
Alexander overcame the hosts of Persia. The Cretans, who were the most
celebrated archers in Europe, sometimes formed a separate division in
the Grecian and afterward in the Roman armies. The Romans, however,
generally preferred heavy-armed troops. But it was a peculiarity of
Roman policy always to adopt every improvement in the art of war with
which they became acquainted, whether it originated with friend or foe.
Rome never let slip any opportunity to add to the efficiency of her
legions, and they repaid her care by carrying her eagles in triumph from
the Thames to the Euphrates, and from the Danube to the Nile.

It was in the west of Europe, and from about the eleventh to the
fifteenth century, that archery flourished in the greatest perfection.
The early chronicles are filled with the exploits of the English
archers, and old and young still read with delight those ballads which
tell of the wondrous achievements of "Robin Hood and his merry men."
Indeed, with the name of that famous outlaw are connected all our ideas
of perfect skill in the use of the bow, and in the directions which in
his dying hour, he gave to his faithful man, "Little John," we seem to
hear the dirge of archery itself:

"Give me my bent bow in my hand,
And a broad arrow I'll let flee,
And where that arrow is taken up,
There shall my grave digg'd be.

"And lay me a green sod under my head,
And another at my feet,
And lay my bent bow by my side,
Which was my music sweet."

We shall not stop to dwell on the defects of the bow. The great and
insuperable one was its want of power. The strength of a man was the
limit of its capacity, and something more was necessary to pierce the
ironclad breast of the knight. But, until the invention of gunpowder, it
stood at the head of missile engines.

When and where gunpowder was invented it is impossible now to ascertain.
It seems to be described in the pages of Roger Bacon, while many are of
opinion that the returning Crusaders brought it from the east. Certain
it is that it had been known in China for many centuries, and applied to
the blasting of rocks and other useful purposes, though never to