The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-08 00:00:00

IHE SUN, LONDON, TITURSDAY, SEPTEMI3ER 8, 1876

4has,s.epots did marvels, wrote DE FAILLY 'to hie
master, 04 413 i t C.llllRf3 to 71,aS that GARLD A LDI
WilA ma& a iisone-r and the POPE remehmd at
Rome. Then came- the deluge. 'Then the
fountains of the great denp were broken up. 'then
chaos came back again. And now what dowe see
through the storm-clouds, through the thick smoke of
battle ,? Forty thassand Italian troops are drawing
nearer and nearer to the territory of the PONTIFF.
The Sovereign who protected him is discrownecl
and imprisoned ; the Oeneral who fought for
him moped -the merciless. resentment of
his own infuriate troops only, by death. And
what alma. GAZIDALDI Will he,. old
and I;triaeN renew Ms youth like the eagle's, now
that the old longing of his earlier days it about to be
fulfilled? Will he Still perform Iris vow, and crown
Vie'Voa 1-landuzaJF.L King of Italy, complete from.
Sum 4io Syr:louse? We doubt it. GAILIRALDI has
long lost faith In the Galan name Ba; believes only
in. a Republiol and will devote to its establishment
Rich strength as he still.retains. He and his fellow
Republipuks will nbt even be content with Rome.
They are demanding back from. France the provinces
which France has taken from Italy Nice, the pro-
ABM which gave Ganmnan birth, and which
CAVOUR so unwillingly surrendered in 18001
even Obrsica, - which became Fbench in
1768, just in time to make the first
of the BONAPARTES a Frenchman. It may be
that Prussta, 'which desires to see a strong Italy,
act as a check upon France in the:south, will favour
these views and support these demands. But it is.too
early us yet to say what will happen there.
The proclamation of the Republic in France will 1
give an immense impetus to the revolutionary party
throughout Europe, and nowhere more so than in
Italy. Only one thing is certain ; if VICTOR
EMMANUEL is to retain/ his crown he must
march upon Rome. Italy will throw him
over, will abolish monarchy altogether, if
the first King of Italy shrinks from completing
the task upon which the Italians have set their
hearts. It is not certain, under the present altered
conditions of Europe, if even this step will save
him. If he does not take it he will certainly be
lost.

There Is one more contrast yet in store. We have
already alluded to it. What is to become of the
POPiO Where will he betake himself The
British Government will give him ticsosnmo-
dation at Malta if he should chow's to betake himself
there but is hardly likely that the head of
Roman. Catholic Christendom. will consent to
be the subject ci a heretic Sovereign. It 18
more probable that he will remain where he is,
allowed full possession of a palace rind a garden. Or
are we to see the clays of Avignon restored, and
France, which will have no sovereign of her own,
giving shelter to him who has been declared the
supreme lord of Christendom ?

' Tins is no time for recrimination. Europe passed
, suddenly out of a state of profound peace into one of
desperate warfare. We say emphatically "suddenly"
because when the Prime Minister of France and a
man of the experience of Mr. ILimfugisln declared
almost simultaneously, and in almost identical
language, only a few days before the memorable
6th of July, that the political atmosphere was pro-
foundly calm, it is, clear that the present war is not
an event that there was any reason to anticipate.
On that account there is no reason' to blame
our -Government for having reduced our military
defences, and the fact that they had to raise 20,000
additional men in August is no ground for condemn-
ing them for dismissing 21,000 in March. At the
same time it cannot be too distinctly understood that
the condition. of affairs has entirely changed since
the spring. Not only are the halcyon days of
L universal 'peace not arrived, but it is only
too plain that a war may be declarCd without warn-
ing and without just excuse. This being so there is
not a single nation which can feel sure that it will
not have at some time or other to fight for its
existence,. This is no case of sudden panic such as
befel us in 1858 and 1860. We do not suppose for
one moment that the French, after they have made
peace, will revenge the criticisms of the Times by
invading our shores. We cro not imagine that
Prussia, albeit Victorious, is so lustful of territory or'
so enamoured of bloodshed that she will send her
few iron-clads up the Tyne or the Humber. The
danger is not of such a kind that it need make
us rush into costly because hasty, and therefore
inefficient, preparations. There is no chance of our
repeating " PALMERSTON follies" in the shape of
enormous fortifications which we should never be
able to man. The war now raging bas taught us
how small a part fortifications play in a campaign.

Metz has but served as a trap to detain the principal

French army, •and as for the other fortresses
they have for the most part simply been
passed by the invaders who have pressed
on through the country far in the rear. The one
lesson we have learnt, or at all events should learn,
is that even in time of peace we ought to have an
army capable of expansion at the shortest notice.
The problem of a cheap efficient
_national defence

I is not easy to solve,. On the one hand we cannot
endure the cost of a large standing army 5 on the
other hand the force which we do maintain ought to
be available for active service promptly, This
would be the case even if we had merely our
own country to defend. But it must be re.
membered that we have taken upon ourselves
• obligatiort towards other countries which may have
to be fulfilled almost at a day's notice. Everything
therefore depends upon our reserv►' forae-, too fail as
numbers are concerned, this is adequate for all the
demands that are likely to be made upon us% Bat
then, unfortunately, it exists to a great extent oily
on paper. Undoubtedly, as Lord ELcuo remarked
in his letter to the Tunes, to which we
have already referred, Mr. CARDWELL'S principle
as set forth by him in his speech on
the Army Estimates, is sound. Unquestionably, it is
right to keep down the numbers of a regiment while
maintaining • the cadres, provided you can be sure of
filling up the numbers—of re-clothing the skeleton
with flesh when required. But this is just what Mr.
CARDWELL would find himself unable to do if England
were unhappily involved in war. Our army reserve,'
speaking in the strict technical sense of the word,
consists of two classes I the first contains only
2,000 ma the scsond doo, indeed, cantata 19,0110,
but of 'Heap; 14100 wife pensioners, excellent, Eloitliprs,
yet •spmewhat antique for laeo to depend upon in the
time of a great national struggle. Besides these two
classes are the militia, 20,000 in number, and the j
volunteers, 200,000. The militia are liable to serve
abroad in time of war, the volunteers are liable to
serve only in the defence of the country if it should
rbe actually invaded. Both are short of officers
and short of arms. The militia would possibly
be able to co-operate with regular troops in a little
time; the volunteers are for the most part individual
units having no interdependence, incapable of acting
together—a collection of sharpshooters, in fact,
asefui for guerilla warfare, useful to fire at an
advancing enemy from behind hedgerows, but wholly
unfit to perform any military manoeuvres save
marching past and some other few review-day
accomplishments.
This state of things is neither creditable nor safe.
,Unfortunately Mr, CARDWELL does not seem to be
alive to it, We dt itot blame hint fer the past, f'o
as we have said it was impossible to, foresee the •