New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-11-20
ENGLAND.

the present struggle, OF at leas' ioi NV s!"P"
thizing with her. The British government and the
public are gentle and humble only toward the
French despot However, these matamorean, box
ing attitudes do not seem to ffighten any one We
strongly suspect that all the storm OF high words
which for many months has filled the columns Of
the London press is raised to shake off the senss of
the gloomy reality that the halo of British military
power is forever destroyed. We accord to the
leaders of public opinion in England sufficient sound
Judgment to believe them to be wholly sobered.
and to see distinctly the position held by their
country not only through the Crimean campaigns,
but the whole Eastern war.
We shall not 60 over all the complications OF
this struggle, as they are fresh in the memory OF
every one. Their result is briefly that, as military
continental poxe England belongs to the stateso
the second order StrainiDg every nerve in the
midst of warlike national excitement probably
eoualiug that of the Napoleonic epoch, England has
NOT been able since the war began to bring more
than fifty thousand men into the field. According
TO the last accounts, her force in the Crimea now
numbers thirty eight thousand men. No one will
contest the stubborn bravery Of the English sol
dier-the same at Alma aud Inkermann as at
Creey. Agincourt, or Waterloo But all wars are
not decided by single battle. Napoleons author
ity is supreme in such matters, and he said that
victory is always won by the most numerous bat
tslions. 1t is such numerous battaliOns that En-
gland is wholly unable to bring out in any CONT
mental war To make up for deficiencies, her only
means in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
has been to resort to alliances, subsidies,
or enlistments. To carry out the last, she
has been obliged to skim the dregs OF
her own and of foreign populations. But now
foreign enlistment has become difficult, or
rather almost impossible. The last enterprise Of
that kind has proved failure here as well as
in Europe. All governments prohibit the
practice by stringent laws, and EDgands only
resource is to violate them. Now it would be
difficult if not impossible for her to bring together
nj once an army of one hundred thousand men for
sDy purpose, except to repel an invasion Of her
own shores Whatever their bravery, if all were
rivals of the Black Prince himself small numbers
may fight 2orously in battle, but are insufficient
for strategical movements against superior
enemy Wonders like those seen in the first cam
psien of Napoleon in Italy or that OF 1914 in
Champagne of genius and good fortune
seldom occur There is to-day on the continent Of
Europe more than one power able to oppose En-
Gland with treble or quadruple her force. Single.
handed, she is not only unable to fight any Of the
first rate powers of Europe, but even some among
the minor powers would be match for her. She
may damage them in various ways, but cannot
wage against them continental war.
In the Spanish campaigns, so disastrous to
the French marshals, all the odds were
favorable to their enemies. Welington's
left wing touched the sea, and thus it
wss impossible either to outfank him or
cut off bis communications. He was, too, in
the midst of an iDsuIgent nation, devoted to him,
terrible in their hatred Of the French, and adroit
beyond measure in guerilla warfare. 1t is beyond
human possibility for England to carry on war
single handed against Russia, France or Austria.
To begin with the last named power, Austria 10, in
a military point of view, almost inaccessible aud
inyulnerable by England. She has only single
port Trieste, worth attacking. The destruction
Of any other point of the Adriatic would not much
damage her, as her prosperity does not depend OK
clusiyey on her shipping in those waters. LON
hardy is the only region in the Austrian empire
accessible to England; but even this cannot be
approached without a previous alliance with
France or at least with Piedmont. Hungary
cannot be reached by English troops cave in as
cending the Danube, and thus passing across the
dominions Of Turkey, Russia and Serbia. Prussia
too can show her teeth TO England, and act her at
defiance ON the continent. Dantzic, Stettin
Meuel. and the Prussian shores Of the Baltic
in general. with the Prussian shipping, are to be
sure. exposed to English havoc, but Pru'sla's corps
of engineers one of the best in Europe-would
soon cover the principal ports and harbors with
poyerful works of defense. The naval exploits
Of the English fleets during the present war
have sufficiently proved the dislike OF the wooden
walls to get within the range Of strong fortiiici
lions or land-batteries. No doubt the shores Of
Prus,ia would be visited in their weaker points, as
those of Russia have been. The exploits Oh
Kertch might be reproduced-exploits In which
English commanders and sailors far dlstanced NOR
gan and his buc in the sack and destruction
Of Panama But TO land aud conduct campaign
in the interior is wholly out of the question: mus
the interior of the country is secure from devasta-
ton and Prussan industry and trade, if stopped in
her own h.rbors, will easily find issues by Ham
buru Iubeck Bremen the ports Of Mecklen-
burg. and BY water and rail communication with
Holland and belgium Prussia, therefore, need
not fear England. The vituperatons poured out
BY the English press and parliament have not
shaken tho popularity Of the King Of Prussia with
bis subjects; tho lat general elscsisas show that