Many Men are of Opinion that a Man may naturally know enough to attack or defend himself, without the Assistance of Art:  Man, tho’ the only reasonable Creature, finds himself deprived of what irrational Creatures naturally possess; and he requires for his Improvement the Assistance and Practice of others; the grand Art of War, and that of using the Sword, which has been practised thro’ so many Ages, still find new Inventions; and it may be said, that as there is no Place, in whatever Situation by Nature, but requires Art to secure it’s Defence; so likewise, whatever Disposition a Man possesses, he cannot be perfect without the Assistance of Rules and Practice.

Some Men acknowledge that Skill is necessary in single Combat, but that in a Crowd or Battle it is altogether useless:  I own that on these Occasions, it is less useful than in single Battle, by reason of the different Accidents, as of Cannon, Musquets, and of other Arms; besides, a Man may be attacked by several at once:  But if a Man cannot avoid being hit with a Ball, and sometimes with a Sword, he may, nevertheless, by the Disposition and Agility of the Parts, more easily defend and return a Thrust:  Besides, being more able to hit with the Edge or Point, he may put more Enemies to flight, or keep them at a greater Distance.  If the French Troops have always been victorious, Sword in Hand, a Part of the Glory is owing to the Skill of several Officers; and I’ll venture to say, that if they had all been as expert as they should have been, you might see, as well on Foot as on Horseback, in Battle as on a Breach, Actions that would be not only uncommon but prodigious.  It may perhaps be said, that our Enemies have some expert Officers among them; besides, that their Number is commonly less than in France, there is as great a Difference between their Dexterity and that of the French, as between their Masters and our’s, from whom very few would have learned if the War had no suspended our Academies.[5]

I think it proper to finish this Chapter by confuting an Error as common, and more ridiculous, than the others; which is, of an infallible Thrust, which a great many People think that Masters reserve for dangerous Occasions, or to sell it at a dear Rate.  This wonderful Thing, is called the secret Thrust.  I don’t know whether this Error proceeded from those who have not learned, or from the Chimera of some self-conceited Masters, who have sold to ignorant Scholars, some Thrusts as infallible, of their own Contrivance, as ridiculous and dangerous as the Simplicity of the Scholar and the Knavery of the Master are great.

To discover the Error of this Opinion you must observe two Things:  First, that in Fencing there are no more than five Thrusts or Places, which I have described in Page 27, shewing the Parade of each of them; and secondly, that there is no Motion without it’s Opposite; so that as you cannot push without a Motion, there is no Thrust without it’s Counter, and even several; for besides the different Positions of the Body, there is not only the Time to take, but also several Parades to favour the Risposts, which plainly shews, that doing one of these Things properly, this imaginary infallible Thrust, far from succeeding will expose him that would make it.