The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-27 00:00:00

BARON VON MOLTKE.

Baron von Moltke, general of infantry and chief of the
staff of the Prussian army, author of the plan of the
campaign of Sadowa and of that which is now being
executed, is sixty-six years old. He was born in Sleswig,
where his family, which originally came from Mecklen-
burg, settled during the last century. His grandfather
Adam Gottlieb von Moltke, who left his country in 1769
to enter the Danish service, had twenty-two children, of
whom the youngest was the father of the famous Prus-
sian general. One of his uncles took up the principles
of the French revolution with great warmth. He
resigned his title of count and styled himself citizen
Moltke,and until his death in 1837 he was one of the chief
opponents of Denmark in the Duchies of the Elbe. The
young Von Moltke entered the Bth regiment of the Prus-
sian army in 1823 as a lieutenAnt, and two years later,
being noticed for his intelligence, he was admitted into the
staff of the corps where all his military lifehas been passed.
In 1839 Major Von Moltke was sent to Egypt to the army
of Mehemet Ali at the same time as Herr Von Vincke, at
present one of the most celebrated orators and leaders of
the old Liberal party in the Prussian Chamber. They
both took part in the famous battle of Nezib in 1839. General
Von Moltke has been head of the staff for five years. His
predecessor was General Von Falkensteins, now Com-
mander-in-Chief of the 7th Prussian corps.

GERMAN OPINION.
COLOGNE, SEPTEMBER 24

For a time the annexation cry here and in other parts
of Germany had it all its own way. It is difficult for a
nation to depreciate the effect of its own victories, and an
attempt to restrain the general inclination to exact a
substantial compensation from France would have
been deemed unpatriotic. But the sort of in-
terregnum since the battle of Sedan during which no very
serious fighting has taken place, has evidently done some-
thing to cause a revulsion of feeling. A party opposed to
annexation has grown up. It is only small, it is true,
and it is not likely to have much influence on the course of
negotiations ; but it is not the less satisfactory to find
that there exists a body of Germans who, in the
flush of victory, are disposed to rest content
without exacting territorial guarantees which may
be more burdensome than advantageous. Some
of this change is probably due to the very foolish arrest
of Dr. Jacobi. This democrat delivered an address at
Konigsberg against annexation. He was immediately
thrown into.prison. The ministerial papers had no diffi-
culty in finding excuses for this detestable wit of tyranny :
Herr Jacobi did not stand alone, there were others who
shared his opinions, and the spread of their doctrines
might become dangerous to the national unity,— and so
on with similar stuff, as if the national unity demanded
that everybody in Germany should be forcibly hammered
into the same opinions. But sensible people see in this
act an employment of the present irresistible power of the
Government to repress all individual freedom. Naturally
their attention has been drawn, as is usual in such cases,
to the very subject for which Herr Jacobi has been prose-
cuted for discussing. And, little by little, a feeling has
grown up that Germany would be better off without than
with French soil. The Cologne Gazette, which favours the
annexation of Alsace, is very pronounced against adding
to Germany such a thoroughly French town as Metz.