The Bow! That weapon of remote
antiquity - once so destructive - so bloody - so cruel: - that Weapon, by which
Nations have subverted Nations - among us is now known only as an instrument of
polite amusement!
--Walter Moseley, An Essay on Archery,
1792--
Thus have we seen in the lapse of time,
one of the most dangerous and destructive weapons of war laid aside... and
English Archery, once the terror of foreign enemies, now changed into a
pleasing, elegant, and healthful amusement. May we not wish for a similar
alteration with regard to every other instrument invented for the destruction
of men; and hope for the arrival of those peaceful days, so beautifully
described by the poet -
No more shall nation against nation
rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful
eyes;
Nor fields with gleaming steel be
cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no
more;
But useless lances into scythes shall
bend.
And the broad falchion in a plowshare
end.
--Anecdotes of Archery, 1792--
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