The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-28 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIDIES.--At last the telegraph brings us news that
the armies of the two great German Powers have
met on the field of battle. The centre of the Prus-
sian army has, as our readers know, crossed the
Austrian frontier within the last few days at the
eastern extremity of Saxony, and advanced on
Reichenberg and Turnau, while the left wing, under
the command of the Crown Prince, extending from
Landshut to Neisse, entered north-eastern Bohemia
in force. Both these great divisions of the Prussian
army have now engaged the enemy. There has been
an encounter near Turnau, in which the Prussians
are said to have been victorious, taking prisoners
seven Austrian officers and 500 men. But this
success will be more than counterbalanced by the
disaster which appears to have befallen the Prussians
at Silesia. The various accounts received by tele-
graph made it uncertain at what point the Crown
Prince intended seriously to invade the Austrian
territory. The Prussians were heard of at Oder-
berg and Oswiecin, at the extreme south-east of
Silesia ; they were in possession of Zuckmantel
and Friedberg, having crossed the frontier oppo-
site Neisse, and they were also operating further
to the north-west. As we anticipated, it is at a
point not too distant from the centre of their line
that they have entered in force the Austrian
territory. The centre of the Austrian line is sup-
posed to have extended from about Turnau to
Josephstadt, and it is with the main body of Bene-
dek's army that the Prussians have been engaged
in this the first German battle of the war. The mili-
tary pride of Austria may well be soothed by the
event. In four days two battles have been won, and
the invading armies of her two adversaries driven
from the field. All we know of the battle is, that it
was fought on Austrian ground, between Joseph-
stadt and the frontier. The troops engaged advanced
through Nachod and Neustadt to Skalicz, which
is within ten miles of Josephstadt, and here we may
suppose they were met by the Austrians in force.
The battle began at ten o'clock yesterday morning,
and lasted till six in the evening. The Prussians
were repulsed from Skalicz, the Austrian cavalry
taking part in the action; and the Prussians were at
the close of the day, according to the telegraphic
despatch, in full retreat, leaving their dead and
wounded on the field. Such is the success which the
Austrian arms are said to have achieved. It may be
exaggerated by a partial report, but there is in it
nothing improbable. Field Marshal Benedek may
have shown that if the Austrians have allowed their
opponents to gain signal advantages at the beginning
of the campaign it has not been for want of ability in
their commander. The promptitude of the Prussians
has gained for Berlin the supremacy of Northern
Germany, but the inactivity of the Austrians, from
whatever cause it has arisen, may at last have given
them a triumph over their too confident opponents.
We do not know the designs of the Prussian generals,
nor what have been the dispositions of their forces;
but it is difficult to believe that any good strategical
purpose can be served by an invasion of Bohemia.
The people are not German, they are sufficiently
attached to Austrian rule, and they are above all
things anti-Prussian. Any dislike they may feel for
the Germans of the South is a faint sentiment when
compared with the antipathy they bear to their
neighbours across the mountains. No moral effect
could therefore be produced by capturing positions
in this essentially hostile territory. The Prussians
could never conciliate or even conquer the Bohemian
population. The only object, then, that an able com-
mander could propose to himself would be to anti-
cipate Benedek's invasion by attacking the Austrian
army on its own territory. And in this he might
feel some diffidence. Where the Great Frederick
failed it is hardly given to another to succeed. Bo-
hemia is a country offering many positions for de-
fence ; it is strengthened with fortresses which have
been carefully repaired within the last few months ;
and the line of railway through Moravia to Vienna
allows men and materials of war to be sent to any
point of the frontier that may be threatened. The
Austrians, too, have had large experience in de-
fensive warfare. Even when their organisation was
most defective they fought great battles against the
most active and spirited soldiers of the Continent.
The student of their campaigns against either Napo-
leon knows that they have always been stubborn
enemies, who might be borne down by French
energy, but were hardly likely to succumb to brother
Germans. These things might well have made the
Prussian Generals hesitate in such a scheme as the
invasion of Bohemia. It may be that their purpose
was to get possession of the lines of railway which
place Prague and the Saxon frontier in communica-
tion with Vienna, and thus to take a better hold of
their new conquest. But, whatever the plan may
have been, it seems to have been defeated. After a
doubtful campaign the Prussians would have to re-
tire from Bohemia, probably at all points, and leave
the Austrian commander to mature his own plans
unmolested. In Northern and Western Germany
matters look more favourable for Prussia, though
the battle of yesterday may have its effect on all
classes, raising the spirit of the Federal party and
discouraging the Prussian alliance. But the ad-
vantages gained by the Berlin Government cannot
be easily impaired. One of the strangest incidents
of the war has been the effort of the Hanoverian
army to escape, and the uncertainty which has pre-
vailed as to its fate. The last news was that a capi
tulation would be effected, and that the greater part,
if not the whole, of the army would surrender and
be disbanded. Prussia, it was said, had again offered
the King an alliance, with a guarantee for his pos-
session of the Throne, on the basis of Federal Re-
form. 'The King will neglect his own interests if
any family or dynastic pride prevents him from ac-
cepting this offer. Whatever may be the military
events of the war, it can hardly be doubted that the
old Confederation is at an end, and that Northern
Germany, at least, must be united under the leadership
of Prussia. All the tendencies of the age are in favour
of unity, and the monarchy of Berlin may justly look
upon time as its ally. Thelonger the war lasts theless
is it likely that the minor Sovereigns can be restored
to their old state and independence. The shock of
hostilities and the pressure of calamities will destroy
the minor Courts and Bureaucracies of Germany.
They can only prolong their existence under other
conditions, and by leaning on the Power which has
shown that not one of them has the strength to
maintain its own independence for 24 hours. There
is as yet no movement in the Federal army, to the
command of which Prince Charles of Bavaria has
been appointed by the Federal Diet. It may be
presumed that the choice.of a commander has been
dictated by the desire to attach the Bavarians as
firmly as possible to the cause. This State can
bring at once 50,000 men into the field, and in a
few days the Federal army will amount to not less
than twice that number. It remains to be seen what
effect the Austrian success will have on the minds
of the people whose Governments maintain the alli-
ance with Vienna.

POST.—The Russell:Gladstone Administration,
when it comes to have its history written, will run
the risk of having said of it, as was said of Charles
1., that the most graceful act of its life was its death.
Nothing could be at once in better temper and taste
than the short speech in which Mr. Gladstone an-
nounced on Tuesday the final decision which had
been arrived at, and it is impossible to avoid the re-
flection that if former speeches from the same quar-
ter had partaken more of the same character we
might even now have been in presence of a Reform
Bill passed and a Government saved, instead of
having to lament over the ashes of both bill and Go-
vernment. The House of Commons is a peculiarly
sensitive assembly, and it is easy to conceive that
the assumption of a somewhat dictatorial tone
towards it—and that not only in the manner of
proceeding but in the matter which was forced
upon its reluctant attention—has had much to do
with the astonishing rea3tion which has driven from
office a Government starting with so much promise,
and commanding so large a majority as the mori-
bund Administration which is now only await-
ing the appointment of its successors to retire
from the direction of public affairs. The names
of which it was composed, although wanting in
such mighty towers of strength as those of Sidney
Herbert and Cornewall Lewis, which shed so much
lustre upon it in former days, were undoubtedly
those which commanded the greatest respect and
represented the greatest power among the whole
Liberal party. With the traditional name of Rus-
sell in one house, and the increasing name of Glad-
stone in the other, it could boast of leaders second
in most qualities to none who have ever preceded
them. To Lord Clarendon we are indebted for the
maintenance of a discreet, and, at the same time, a
dignified foreign policy which has done something
by no means inconsiderable towards the rehabilita-
tion of our much-decayed influence on the Conti-
nent, and especially towards the cultivation of in-
creased good feeling between this country and the
French Empire. The Duke of Somerset, with a
love of work and an application to details which are
rare among those of much lower rank, has carried
out that reconstruction of our navy of which Sir J.
Pakington only talked ; Lord Cranworth has main-
tained unsullied the honour of the Chancellorship,
and filled it as worthily as his known ability and
experience led the public to expect ; and, in addi-
tion to this, such men as Mr. Villiers and Mr. Mi-
ner Gibson not only brought to the Cabinet busi-
ness habits and great special aptitude for the work
of their own departments, but also represented the
great and growing power of the advanced section
of the Liberal party. We cannot but feel regret
that a Ministry so constituted should have come to
so untimely an end, and that regret is increased by
the reflection that the occasion of it need not have
existed at all had Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone
but refrained from pressing upon colleagues who

were certainly lukewarm, if not advetse towards the
subject, their determination to attack the question
of Reform, or even if, having attacked it, they
could have had the generosity and justice to
treat the House of Commons wifh more frankness
and consideration. Mr. Gladstone's speech of
Tuesday would appear to indicate that the lesson
has not been lost upon him, and we confidently
look for its effect when he next assumes the
leadership of the house. In a Constitution like
ours, not only the abilities but also the tempers of
our political leaders are of vital importance ; and
when, as in course of time he must do, Mr. Glad-
stone succeeds to the chief position in his party, we
doubt not that he will habitually exercise that con-
trol over his temper which at times, under pecu-
liarly
,trying circumstances, he has shown himself
to possess. Lord Derby having been sent for by
her Majesty, there is no reasonable doubt that he
will succeed in forming an Administration—and,
although the materials with which he has to work
may not be easily adaptable to the task in hand, the
Conservatives have been out of office too long not
to try their hand. At any rate the first difficulty
that must present itself will be the choice of a
Foreign Minister capable of worthily replacing, at
so difficult a juncture, Lord Clarendon. The chiefs;
of the Adullamite party, who have really brought
the Conservatives in, will not, however, it is under-
stood, join them, more ostensibly than at present,
but will so far support them as to stand between
them and the Opposition, to prevent them from
being unduly harassed, though how far precisely
they may be inclined to go in defence of Tory prin-
ciples still remains to be seen ; and, judging from
past experience, they may possibly at no distant
time prove as dangerous to their new friends as they
have been to their old. The new Administration
will have the advantage of coming into power at
the fag-end of the session, and consequently may
be considered as safe until the meeting of Parlia-
ment next year. It would not, indeed, be loyal or
fair in those who have been compelled to abandon
the reins of power themselves to harass those who
take them up without giving them some chance of
showing their capabilities. The same reasons which
were recognised as being so weighty as against a
change of Government at this time will be of equal
force as against a second change, and the forbear-
ance which should be shown to any Government
now taking office should be great. The Liberals
have had a long lease of power, and can well afford
to be magnanimous for the present. When Parlia-
ment meets again it will be fair and proper enough
to have a trial of strength. In the meantime, the
propriety of abstaining from anything like factious
opposition to whatever Government may be formed
is apparent, and will, we doubt not, be fully recog-
nised by those who find themselves in the unaccus-
tomed places of opposition.

COUNTRY MARKETS.