The French nation are said to have exulted at the decline of archery in England,
after the invention of gunpowder, and have boasted that "God had given them means to
encounter them (the English) after another sort than in times past." We learn from Mr.
Barwick, also, that upon the introduction of fire-arms into France, it was a common
observation in the mouth of every Frenchman that "the weakest of them would
thenceforward be able to give greater wounds than the skilfullest and strongest archer we
had."