A bibliography of English military books up to 1642 and of ...

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Robins classes him with Alghisi, Marchi, Pasino, and Speckle ("New Principles",
London, 1742, p. ix).
XV
and de Rohan, I have found less than a score of translations of
stridtly technical works. Unwilling to forego the honours of
authorship, he put together his patchwork with more or less
skill,
unhesitatingly claiming it on the title-page as his own entirely.
Punishment sometimes followed in the shape of criticism from
succeeding writers, but as a rule the practice seems to have been
considered excusable. For at this period, a widely-diffused knowledge
of Italian and Spanish among the class to whom these works
were chiefly addressed, men who not only commanded the trained
bands at home, but officered the bands of volunteers abroad, rendered
mere translation to some extent superfluous. Then, again, what
the Englishman wrote of was matter of common knowledge ;
as he was usually a soldier whose professional training had been
carried out entirely abroad, it would not be surprising if he should
and
have confused the contents of the famous foreign text-books, and
the lessons derived directly from them, with his own practical
experiences, and have brought out the
combination as wholly his
own. At any rate, we have nothing so gross as the fraud of de
La Treille, who, in 1556, published at Lyons a translation of
Zanchi, pretending it was original, and who long continued to
receive credit for another man's work.^ Yet a slight acquaintance
with the subject is sufficient to show that, however they might
imitate foreign authors, the English writers were considerably
behind the times, as is
originals and translations ;
proved also by a comparison of the dates of
a book might be in continual use on the
continent for a quarter of a century and more, before it was thought
necessary to " do it into English." It was not till their fighting
days were over, that men found time and inclination
to write for
the instruction of their countrymen ; thus, while the continentals
were treating of things as they adtually were, Englishmen were
treating of things as they had been years before.
It is quite in keeping with all this that, while English writers
were borrowing from the Spaniards, Italians, French, and Germans,