The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-24 00:00:00

FORCED MARCHES.

From the earliest times the legs of soldiers have
had as much to do as their arms in the winning of
battles. The army of the Crown Prince is evidently
a fast-marching one, but this is not extraordinary
considering the systematic training which nearly all
Germans go through. Very few towns of any pre-
tension are without their gymnasium, where the
youth are instructed not only in bodily exercises,
but in the
,use ,of arms as well. This systematic
course of education is pursued by the Germans out
of their own country, for in London, Liverpool, and
other cities m the :United Kingdom, gymnasia tare
erected by joint effort in order to secure the benefits
of muscular development. The British army has
lately taken to systematic bodily exercise, and the
results will no doubt be commensurate with the zeal
shewn by the members of the force. Some extra-
ordinary instances of rapid marching are recorded of
English foot soldiers. In India, when Sir C.
Whitlock's infantry brigade relieved the
garrison of Kirwee, it• was done by a
forced march of eighty miles in forty hours,
the artillery and cavalry doing the distance in only
a few hours less. During the Peninsular war the
rapid marches of-the British army became famous,
and even as late as the Abyssinian war the troops
made extraordinary displays in walking.

THE NEW YORK PRESS ON THE EUROPEAN WAR.

The American papers just arrived contain re-
marks on the state of affairs in Europe. The Times
declares that the mistake which was fatal to
Napoleon was evidently delay. The Prussians ex-
pected to be attacked a fortnight before the actual
fighting commenced, and were surprised at the
French Generals losing their opport uni-
ties. Napoleon • to the last day of his
life will have good cause to remember
his procrastination. These are the hours when
Napoleon's faith in his star must be well-nigh dead.
As for talking of the defence of Paris, if the
Prussians appear in force within twenty miles of
Paris, the city is gone. The Herald says
General Grant was never guilty of vacillation or
delay ; he struck as soon as he was ready, and he got
ready as soon as he could. Napoleon's great mistake

in the present campaign has been -vacillation and
delay. He waited to strengthen his army when he
should have been striking with it across South
Germany for Berlin with the speed of and energy of
the first Napoleon sixty-four years ago. The
result is that where Napoleon should have
invaded Prussia, United Germany invades France.
and instead of the Emperor and Louis appearing in
Berlin, " our Fritz" and old King William are likely
to finish the summer in Paris. The Tribune thinks
Napoleon's prestige is lost, and that he can never
again influence the French people; the levee en masse
is as likely to be as serious for him as it is threaten-
ing to the Prussians. The Philadelphia Ledger at-
tributes the wonderful success of the German armies
to their rapid concentration of a powerful force at
the right point and at the right time. The German
leaders are men of supreme sagacity and ability. The
Boston Advertiser observes that those who have
studied the Emperor's character say that he is
a man bold in conception, but of exceeding
timidity in action; that, while he is entitled
to the full credit for planning many of his
grandest enterprises, he has utterly broken down and
lost all his nerve when it has been most required.
Whether this be a correct estimate or not, the
Advertiser believes that his present hesitation has
been fatal.