The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-17 00:00:00

IHE SU.N, LONDON, MONDAY;

objeos, the exclusion from France of the annexer • of
Nice, and the expulsion from France of the Prussians
who gave Venice to Italy. Was there ever siich ai
boulerersement as this ? AVe cannot remember its
like.

Nor does the bizarrerie end here. A RIB A LDI,
the "crippled buccaneer," GARIBALDI whose
limbs are cramped by rheumatism, G ARI-
BA LDI, who still sufferS so sorely • from the bullet
shot at Aspromonte that he cannot walk without
assistance, has been placed at the head of sharp-
shooters whose work is to be perpetually on the
move, and by their incessant activity and agile
fleetness of foot to harrass the enemy. Physically
this is like running a broken down cab horse against
the favourite for the Derby on the Epsom downs.
Will GARIBALDI'S mental activity compensate ?
We doubt it. The secret departure for
Marsala, the victorious march through Sicily,
the sudden invasion of Naples, were bril-
liant feats; but they were accomplished over
a demoralised army, among a race that hailed him as
a deliverer. "Thy people shall be willing in:the day
of thy power "; and it was because they were willing
that he was powerful. But this time not only is he
63 instead of 53; not only is he an invalid and a
cripple, instead of one of the most active of men, but
he has to deal with the most successful and the best
generalled army in the world. Between the miser-
able troops of Neapolitan FRANCIS and the army
which VON MOLTKE directs, there is no
more comparison than there is between the
French soldiers who capitulated at Sedan
and those who won Marengo and Austerlitz.
It may be that, as of old, the weak things of this-
world will be chosen to confound the things that are
mighty. If so, another miracle will have been Ailed
to this year of wonders. But there has been nothing
in GARIBALDI'S antecedents hitherto to justify this
expectation. The one brilliant achievement which
culminated when he drove in a carriage through the
streets of Naples is almost the only exception to a
career which, save fOr that, has been as sorely
unsuccessful as it has been nobly unselfish. Thirty-
four years ago he rashly declared war against
Brazil, was made a prisoner, and suffered cruel
treatment. He was one of the three triumvirs
of Rome during the shortlived Republic of 1848, but
on the storming of the city by the French, he fled,
and during his flight endured such hardships that
his much loved wife sank under them. He took
some part, but not a very leading one, in the cam-
paign of 185 D. His time of triumph was in the year
following, when he won the Two Sicilies for the
" King of Italy." Since then nothing but adversity
has fallen upon him, and his last and most grievous
rout was at the hands of a general whom the Prus-
sians in their turn have routed so shamefully that he
lost everything, not even excepting honour. Is it
likely that the man—noble, gallant, generous though
he be—whom DE FAILLY vanquished, will conquer
DE FAILLY'S vanquishers!

LAST week two M.P.'s addressed their constituents,
one of whom has, until lately, been, and the other of
whom still is, a
*member of the present Government.
It is to be regretted that the second of them had not,
before making his speech, studied the speech of
the first, Mr. TREVELYAN, who lately re-
signed office because he could not approve
of the Education Bill, made certain grave charges
against the administration of the Army which Me.
CARDWELL, in his elaborate defence of that depart-
ment, did not answer, and, apparently, had "not seen.
Addressing the electors of Oxford city, the Secre-
tary of State for War delivered an apology for his
official conduct, with a special view to the strictures
which had been passed upon it by the Earl of CARNAR-
VON. The Conservative nobleman had challenged
Mr. CARDWELL'S statement in the House of Com-
mons with respect to the supply of breechloader
rifles to the militia. Mr. CARDWELL re-affirms his
statement. We are not careful to determine which
of the two is correct ; the matter at issue is a mere
Point of detail. But the speech made by Mr. TILE-
VELYAN to his constituents at Selkirk dealt with a
far more serious question. A. year or two ago he
made the same charge, and being then in office he was
considered indiscreet, awl Mr. G LADSTONE had hard
work to get his young colleague out of the scrape.
But, being now freed from the trammels of office,
the ex-Junior Lord of the Admiralty repeats his
charge and, in the most unmistakeable manner,
accuses the Duke of CAMBRIDGE of exercising an
influence obstinately adverse to a reform of the
army, which would, if we were engaged in war,
involve us in the most serious peril.: This is a very
grave matter. Only four years ago we saw what
came of royal tampering with an army. The over-
throw at Sadowa was the result of Austrian refusal
to follow the Prussian example of military Organiza-
tion. We had thought that this most serious
danger had been surmounted in our own case on the
day the QUEEN renounced the supreme control of the
army in favour of the Secretary of State, in other
words, sanctioned the transfer of the government of
the army from the officer commanding-in-chief to the
responsible Secretary of State. But if Mr. TEE-
VELYAN'S statement he well founded, the Duke of
CAMBRIDGE still exercises his obstructive influence
personally, though officially it has been nullified.
If this be so it is time that Mr. TREVELYAN called
attention to the subject elsewhere than in the Border
Burghs. Let him, as soon as Parliament meets, repeat
his charge. If Mr. C ARDWELL is unable to give a
satisfactory answer to it the nation will demand a
sweeping change. Even when the Duke of WEL-
LINGTON was at the Horse Guards England would
not have suffered him to exercise his predilection
for old fashioned weapons when Europe was at war
with the deadliest inventions that the world had ever
seen. Much less will England suffer that the
organisation of her army shall he sacrificed to the
aristocratic prejudices of a Royal Duke, whose
laurels won before Sebastopol will scarcely compare
with those worn by the departed "her) of a hun-
dred fights." England already spends enough money
on her army, but she has very little to shew for it.
She would spend more if it were needed ; but she
believes that it is not needed; that if royal and
other obstructiveness were swept away,* it would be
possible to have a really efficient force for the present
expenditure or even less,

TOPICS OF THE DAY.