That these dangerous weapons were not known in Europe previous to the introduction of gunpowder may be safely inferred; as without that substance their necessity or utility is wanting.

At first the construction of this machine was characterised by that awkward, rude, and cumbersome appearance which generally distinguished all inventions in their infancy; reminding us of those very rude instruments brought from the Sandwich Islands, and deposited in our Museum.

The first portable fire-arms were discharged by a match; in course of time this was fastened to a cock, for the greater security of the hand whilst discharging the piece. Afterwards a fire-stone was attached, screwed into a cock, with a steel plate before it, and fixed in a small wheel, which could be wound up by a key, affixed to the barrel. This fire-stone was not at first of a vitreous nature, like that now in use for striking fire, but a compact pyrites, long known as such, and called a fire-stone. As an instrument so furnished was often liable to miss fire, till a late period a match was still continued with the wheel; and it was not till a considerable time after that, instead of a friable pyrites, so much exposed to effloresce, a vitreous stone was affixed to the improvement of the lock, somewhat resembling our own gun-lock. But these progressive improvements advanced slowly, because as recently as the early part of the last century these clumsy contrivances were in use. During that period, those instruments were denominated by various names, chiefly German and Dutch, such as buchse, hakenbuchse, arquebuss, musket, martinet, pistol, &c. The first of these names arose from the oldest portable kind of fire-arms having a similarity to a box. There were long and short buchse, the latter of which were peculiar to cavalry; the longest kind also, from their resemblance to a pipe, were called in Germany, rohr.

Large pieces, which were conveyed on carriages, were called Karren buchse, from the action of conveyance. Soon afterwards cannon were introduced, at first called canna; now known as artillery. However, artillery-men, and others concerned in those employments, still use the terms previously mentioned. The hackenbuchse were so very large and unwieldy, that if carried in the hand, they could not be used manually alone; they were, therefore, supported by a post or stay, called a bock, because it had a forked end, somewhat resembling the horns of the buck, between which the piece was fixed by a hook projecting from the stock. There is still preserved in the Tower of London, an old buchse; a specimen of every species of our national arms may be seen in the same place.

From those terms before-mentioned, it would appear, that not only the English, but also the French, and most other European nations, took the names of their fire-arms.

It appears that pistols were first used in Germany; they had a wheel attached to them. Bellay mentions them in the year 1544, in the time of Francis I.; and under Henry II., the German horsemen were called pistoliers. Several historians think that the name came from Pistolia, in Tuscany, because there they were first made; and, if we might hazard an opinion, we think this conjecture right. Hence, although Germany might first have generally used them, we think they were an Italian invention.

Muskets are said to have received their name from either the French mouchet, or else from the Latin muschetus; however, we are of opinion that neither of these terms gave its original; and submit that it is derived from the Latin muscarium,—the fall of men being as sudden after the explosion of this deadly weapon, as the death of a fly after it is flapped by that instrument, which was common in the butcher’s shambles of ancient Rome.

Daniel proves they were known in France as early as the period of Francis I. Brandome, however, asserts they were introduced by the Duke of Alva—that cruel monster in human shape—that tool of a blood-thirsty tyrant—whose name has its full merit when it has eternal execration, as the exploits of that diabolical character in the Spanish Netherlands bear indubitable testimony: that wretch existed in 1507; and they were not known in France at that period, as Brandome endeavours to prove, or we should have had more intelligence handed down to posterity by the commentators of one who would so willingly have used such an instrument. The lock is said to have been invented in the city of Nuremberg, in Germany, about 1517; but that cannot be considered as the lock of the present day, as even in Germany the fire-lock is known by the name of the French-lock, which certainly militates against the previous assertion, the one giving the name perhaps to the other.

Beckmann says, “In the history of the Brunswick military it is stated, that the soldiers of that Duchy first obtained flint-locks instead of match-locks in 1687. It has often been asserted,” he continues, “that fire-tubes which took fire of themselves were forbidden first in Bohemia and Moravia, and afterwards in the whole German empire, under a severe penalty, by the Emperor Maximilian I.; but I have not found any allusion to this circumstance in the different police laws of that emperor.”

That the first fire-stones were pyrites appears from various sources, and afterwards a vitreous kind of stone was introduced in its stead; this circumstance is said to have produced some kind of confusion, as in many instances the properties were applied to that stone which were related by the Germans of antiquity as belonging to pyrites. In Germany, this vitreous stone was called vlint; in Sweden and Denmark, flinta; and in England, flint. This appellation is of great antiquity.

Anciently, in Germany, as it appears from the song of Hildebrand, a metrical romance of very early date, that Hildebrand and Hudebrand, a father and son, and, at the moment, ignorant of their affinity, agreed to fight for each other’s armour; and it is said “They let fly their ashen spears with such force, that they stuck in the shields, and they thrust resounding axes of flint against each other, having uplifted their shields previously; but the Lady Ulta rushed in between them—‘I know the cross of gold,’ said she, ‘which I gave him for his shield; this is my Hildebrand. You, Hudebrand, sheath your sword; this is your father!’ Then she led both champions into the hall, and gave them meat and wine with many embraces.”

Besides these proofs that the ancient name of the stone was known in Germany by the appellation vlint—which species of stone may, perhaps, without hazarding the danger of error, be conceived to be the same which Zipporah, the wife of Moses, is represented to have used, in the 25th verse of the 4th chapter of Exodus: “Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said,—Surely a bloody husband thou art to me.” And it is added she said so, on account of the circumcision.

In addition to what has appeared, let us add, it cannot be doubted that the instrument fired by this stone first obtained for it, in Germany, the name of vlint; as the ancient name may, in general, be now lost, it is commonly called flint-stone. Those people acquainted with the northern, Scandinavian, and German antiquities, know that the knives employed in ancient sacrifices, and other sharp instruments, were made of this stone, as appears from the remains being yet discovered in old barrows, and between urns.

It is also presumed that the Ethiopian stone, mentioned as used by one of the Egyptian embalmers, first to open the body to get at the intestines, was a flint-stone. The soil being in some places siliceous or chalky, naturally produces such stones in common with that earth.

The flint is a stone indigenous in most European countries; they are commonly collected and manufactured by people whose occupation allows them much spare time. The easiest mode to shape them is with a species of pillow of saw-dust, or some other soft material, sown up in coarse cloth, held upon the knees, and with a hammer having a bevil edge, they may be broken into almost any form or size by those accustomed to the practice.

The great quantity of the material from whence they are composed allows for any waste which accident may produce. In several counties of England they are so plentiful, that they are the common material employed for mending the public roads. But we are informed that this is not the case in France, where, in time of war, the people were prohibited from exporting them. The Dutch are commonly large dealers in this article.

Flint is a large component in the manufacture of glass.

Gun flints are now, however, comparatively little used, as percussion caps are generally substituted, which act with more certainty, and require a great deal less trouble.