, who passes for being the discoverer of that fatal composition so
, who passes for being the discoverer of that fatal composition so well known by the name of gun-powder, was born at Friburg in Germany in the thirteenth century, and is said to have discovered this dangerous secret in prison, as he was making some chemical experiments. Albertus Magnus speaks of him as a Cordelier, and says that he invented some sorts of firearms. The discovery of this fatal secret has been attributed by some to the Chinese, and by others to our countryman, Roger Bacon: however, the use of artillery was introduced about the time of the battle of Crecy, 1346, and made an absolute change in the whole art of war; whether a beneficial one, has not yet been decided.