REVIEW, is the drawing out all or part of the army in line of battle, to be viewed by the king, or a general, that they may know the condition of the troops.
At all reviews, the officers should be properly armed, ready in their exercise, salute well, in good time, and with a good air; their uniform genteel, &c. The men should be clean and well dressed; their accoutrements well put on; very well fixed in their ranks; the sergeants expert in their duty, drummers perfect in their beatings, and the fifers play correct. The manual exercise must be performed in good time, and with life; and the men carry their arms well; march, wheel, and form with exactness. All manoeuvres must be performed with the utmost regularity, both in quick and slow time. The firings are generally 36 rounds; viz. by companies; by grand divisions; by sub-divisions; obliquely, advancing, retreating; by files; in the square; street firings, advancing and retreating; and lastly, a volley. The intention of a review is, to know the condition of the troops, see that they are complete and perform their exercise and evolutions well.
REVIEW is also applied to literary journals, which give a periodical view of the state of literature;—as the Monthly Review, the Critical Review, the British Critic, &c. The number of works of this description in Britain has increased greatly of late years and some of them have a very extensive circulation.
RE-UNION ISLAND, an island in the South sea, discovered by the French on the 16th December 1773; lying, according to M. de Pages, in latitude , and longitude , the variation of the needle being always towards north-west. The road and harbour are extremely good, and the latter from 16 to 8 fathoms deep at the very shore. The coast on each side is lofty, but green, with an abrupt descent, and swarms with a species of bustards. The penguins and sea-lions which swarmed on the sands, were nowise alarmed at the approach of those who landed; from whence M. de Pages concluded that the country was wholly uninhabited. The soil produces a kind of grass about five inches long, with a broad black leaf, and seemingly of a rich quality; but there was no vestige of a tree or human habitation. See Travels round the World, by M. de Pages, vol. iii. chaps. 8. and 9.