1which they say nothing more pernicious could have
been brought into the
life of man. For it is employed in making swords, javelins, spears, pikes,
arrows—weapons by which men are wounded, and which cause slaughter,
robbery, and wars. These things so moved the wrath of Pliny that he wrote:
“Iron is used not only in hand to hand fighting, but also to form the winged
missiles of war, sometimes for hurling engines, sometimes for lances, some
times even for arrows. I look upon it as the most deadly fruit of human
ingenuity. For to bring Death to men more quickly we have given wings to
iron and taught it to fly.”19 The spear, the arrow from the bow, or the bolt
from the catapult and other engines can be driven into the body of only one
man, while the iron cannon-ball fired through the air, can go through the
bodies of many men, and there is no marble or stone object so hard that it
cannot be shattered by the force and shock. Therefore it levels the highest
towers to the ground, shatters and destroys the strongest walls. Certainly
the ballistas which throw stones, the battering rams and other ancient war
engines for making breaches in walls of fortresses and hurling down strong
holds, seem to have little power in comparison with our present cannon.
These emit horrible sounds and noises, not less than thunder, flashes
of fire burst from them like the lightning, striking, crushing, and shatter
ing buildings, belching forth flames and kindling fires even as lightning
flashes. So that with more justice could it be said of the impious men of
our age than of Salmoneus of ancient days, that they had snatched lightning
from Jupiter and wrested it from his hands. Nay, rather there has been
sent from the infernal regions to the earth this force for the destruction of
men, so that Death may snatch to himself as many as possible by one stroke.
life of man. For it is employed in making swords, javelins, spears, pikes,
arrows—weapons by which men are wounded, and which cause slaughter,
robbery, and wars. These things so moved the wrath of Pliny that he wrote:
“Iron is used not only in hand to hand fighting, but also to form the winged
missiles of war, sometimes for hurling engines, sometimes for lances, some
times even for arrows. I look upon it as the most deadly fruit of human
ingenuity. For to bring Death to men more quickly we have given wings to
iron and taught it to fly.”19 The spear, the arrow from the bow, or the bolt
from the catapult and other engines can be driven into the body of only one
man, while the iron cannon-ball fired through the air, can go through the
bodies of many men, and there is no marble or stone object so hard that it
cannot be shattered by the force and shock. Therefore it levels the highest
towers to the ground, shatters and destroys the strongest walls. Certainly
the ballistas which throw stones, the battering rams and other ancient war
engines for making breaches in walls of fortresses and hurling down strong
holds, seem to have little power in comparison with our present cannon.
These emit horrible sounds and noises, not less than thunder, flashes
of fire burst from them like the lightning, striking, crushing, and shatter
ing buildings, belching forth flames and kindling fires even as lightning
flashes. So that with more justice could it be said of the impious men of
our age than of Salmoneus of ancient days, that they had snatched lightning
from Jupiter and wrested it from his hands. Nay, rather there has been
sent from the infernal regions to the earth this force for the destruction of
men, so that Death may snatch to himself as many as possible by one stroke.
But because muskets are nowadays rarely made of iron, and the large
ones never, but of a certain mixture of copper and tin, they confer more
maledictions on copper and tin than on iron. In this connection too, they
mention the brazen bull of Phalaris, the brazen ox of the people of Per
gamus, racks in the shape of an iron dog or a horse, manacles, shackles,
wedges, hooks, and red-hot plates. Cruelly racked by such instruments,
people are driven to confess crimes and misdeeds which they have never
committed, and innocent men are miserably tortured to death by every
conceivable kind of torment.
ones never, but of a certain mixture of copper and tin, they confer more
maledictions on copper and tin than on iron. In this connection too, they
mention the brazen bull of Phalaris, the brazen ox of the people of Per
gamus, racks in the shape of an iron dog or a horse, manacles, shackles,
wedges, hooks, and red-hot plates. Cruelly racked by such instruments,
people are driven to confess crimes and misdeeds which they have never
committed, and innocent men are miserably tortured to death by every
conceivable kind of torment.
It is claimed too, that lead is a pestilential and noxious metal, for men
are punished by means of molten lead, as Horace describes in the ode
addressed to the Goddess Fortune: “Cruel Necessity ever goes before thee
bearing in her brazen hand the spikes and wedges, while the awful hook and
molten lead are also not lacking.”20 In their desire to excite greater odium
for this metal, they are not silent about the leaden balls of muskets, and they
find in it the cause of wounds and death.
are punished by means of molten lead, as Horace describes in the ode
addressed to the Goddess Fortune: “Cruel Necessity ever goes before thee
bearing in her brazen hand the spikes and wedges, while the awful hook and
molten lead are also not lacking.”20 In their desire to excite greater odium
for this metal, they are not silent about the leaden balls of muskets, and they
find in it the cause of wounds and death.
They contend that, inasmuch as Nature has concealed metals far within
the depths of the earth, and because they are not necessary to human life,
they are therefore despised and repudiated by the noblest, and should not be
the depths of the earth, and because they are not necessary to human life,
they are therefore despised and repudiated by the noblest, and should not be
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