sion, he would
fool the reactive sting of this invective in his own bosom, and so
become fearful of indulging it.

Still it must be said that he has the genius and function of a critic.
He is the censor of our statesmanship. He is the pruner of our politics.
Let his censure be broad and deliberate, that it may be weighty; let his
pruning be with care and kindness, that it may be with benefit.

_Systems of Military Bridges in Use by the United States Army, those
adopted by the Great European Powers, and such as are employed in
British India._ With Directions for the Preservation, Destruction, and
Reestablishment of Bridges. By Brigadier-General GEORGE W. CULLUM,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff of the
General-in-Chief, etc., etc. New York: D. Van Nostrand.

A nation can hardly achieve military success without paying special heed
to its _material_ of war. It is the explicit duty of a nation's
constituted guardians assiduously to apply all the resources of science
and art, of theory and practice, of experience and invention, of
judgment and genius, to the systematic production of the best military
apparatus. Ordnance and ordnance stores, arms and equipments, commissary
and quartermaster supplies, the means of transportation, fortifications
and engineer-trains, navies and naval appliances,--these are the
material elements of military strength, which decide the fate of
nations. If in these we are behind the age, our delinquency must be
atoned by disaster and wasted lives. Civilization conquers barbarism
chiefly by its superior skill in the construction and use of the
material instruments of warfare. Courage and conduct are certainly
important factors in all legitimate successes; but they must work
through material means, and are emphasized or nullified by the skill or
rudeness exhibited in the device and fabrication of those means. The
great contest now in progress has taught us afresh the potency of those
material agencies through which patriotic zeal must act, and we shall
hereafter lack all good excuse for _not_ having the very best attainable
system of producing, preserving, providing, and using whatever
implements, supplies, and muniments our future may demand.

As an aid in this direction, we welcome the truly valuable book which
General Cullum has now supplied on one of the Special brandies of
military _materiel_. We owe him thanks for his treatise on military
bridges, which was