Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-07-19
THE LONDON TIMES ON NAUsTRIaNoI.n
FO6HlSM.

FOGH1SM.
fFrom the London Times Julv4l
sit is not always says Madame de Sevigne,
1.-The same msn who warns the oven and who
eats the bread. /" Francis Joseph of Austria
nsy ponder this mot when he reads with what
relish Napoleon III. hungry and victorious.
deyOurcd the dinner which had been prepared
for Francis Joseph Mt SOlferino. This little
incident. however, Is only q type Of greater
things. Francis Joseph has been throughout
this Italian policy only oyen-warmer to his
French Imperial brother. If be had been
man Of his age and time, be would never have
allowed Louis Napoleon to play before the
world the audaeious part of q iiberator Of op-
pressed nstionalities. But he has been fixed
an fossil system, and he has petri6ed into
Piedmont and Lombardy, and at Aneoua, and
even in Rome, for others whose only excuse for
coming after him WAS that he and his had been
there before, So il appears likely to happen
that Peschiera and Verona, Mantua and Leg
nanO, have been fortified. strengthened, stored
and armed, only to be gsrrisoned by French
men, and ultimately, as must in courtesy
to recorded promises believe, to he occupied
by Italians. Already 'sthe whole French army
has passed the Mineio;' already ''the Sardin-
ians have invested Peschiera;" already NapO-
leon, aided by his reinforcement of 35, 900, has
approached Verona and watches Mantua al
ready the whole Austrian army has, isfor
strategic reasons which, pushed to their
logical consequences, may some day. perhaps
require the abandonment Of Vienna, or even
PrHgue-retired from the banks of the Mincio
Already the French have carefully and eau
tlOusly followed them, unmolested and the
Austrian, still obstinate in resistance although
no longer confident of victory, is probably, un-
taught and unteachable, again fixing some
definite hour Of some definite day whereon he
Will make all his arrangements for another
pitched battle. ~ -
This battle of Solferino illustrates upon
great scale the character Of the two antago-
nists. Its phases and facts are all recorded
Its indeiibfe picture is craven upon all our
minds Aided by the experience Of eorrespon-
dents IN either camp-those heralds of sacred
and peaceful missiOn-we have followed the
Austrian Emperor to and from the fight, and
the French Emperor throughout his advance
We have twice seen the field from the sSpy of
Italy, and have surveyed il alternately
through French and Austrian glasses. To-day
the battle of SOlferinO takes its place in histo-
nv In the shape in which it will be known for
eyermOre. Ii WAS great and sangunary
battle, fercely contested by nearly 400 900 men
from sunrise 10 sunset Of \ summer day; and il
was battle in which the Austrisns were de-
feated bot not broken, by an enemy inferior in
numbers but superior in intelligence and arms
While the mind of Europe is yet excited by.
the details OF this mighty carnage, and is grow :
ing familiar with the events of the battle, it is
time for us to point the moral of the catas-
trOphe. Why did the Austrians lose this great
battlel Why have they lost eyery battle that
has been fought in this war; 1t is not that
they are less brave than the French. In this
very engagement according to the official ae-
counts OF each armySthe Austrians killed and
wounded ~. 900 Frenchmen, with a loss to
themselves Of about 9, 900 killed and wounded
There could have been DO flight when the num-
bers stand thus at the end of the day. Nor are
the AustriaDs inferior "a mar arksmen Their
rIhemen hit 720 French officers whereof l2O
were shot dead, while the French succeeded in
killing and wOunding only 23O Of the Austrian
0theers They certainly are not inferior to the
French IN discipline. Their riS inertia is mag
nihcent, and they retreat invariably with bold
steady front to the foe. Why is il, then that
they who can lose 50 valiantly can never win
Because, unfortunately for them, knowledge
Is present power, and their knowledge is not of
the present but Of the past. They are q stag
mating respectability. They are governed and
directed by old rules old men and old routine
They have an enemy who does not care q GEN.
time Tor antiquity, and Is not above taking the
most Irregular methods 10 win a yirtory The
Emperor Of Austria makes up his mind to do
remarkable fine piece Of Lonis Quatorze STRAIT
egy. He executes an elaborate piece of old :
fashioned deception, crossing the Mincio with
his whole force, and then re-crossing il with
his 200, zoo men, and fixing the contemplated
surprise Of the enemy at o'clock in the morn
ing. The Emperor of the French, REPRESENT
ungentlemanlike manner, refuses to be sur.
prlsed. Having recourse to n new tangled ex-
pedient which NO trustworthy veteran " no can
count his seventy years would condescend TO
use, he sends man up in q balloon; and at
the expense of n few yards of silk and a few
square feet of gas, is told the exact position Of
all these masses which are drawn up so scien-
tifcally out Of his sight with the intention of
surprising him at the comfortable, leisurely
hour of a. m. The man of his time-the
clever. active, shrewd, nothing contemning sd :
-yentursr Of the nineteenth century by dint of
this small continuance, becomes master of the
position. He knows what is going to happen
and where his enemy is. and how many be is
and while the heavy, self-complacent Austrian
is chuckling at the formal surprise that is to
come of at a. m, he attacks at daybreak,
chooses his own time and point of attack, and
remains master of the field So, again, the
Austrian, coming by very respectable means,
IN no respect sullied by any inyentiyeness or
breach of precedent, into possession of a fine
body Of sharpshOOters, dealt tremendous dis
aster against the French The French opposed
artificial to the Austrian natural advantage
but not 50 ss 10 equslze the two armies in the
rifle.
There was another point, however in which
the two nations were equal. The Austrian
mountsineers do not use cannon In their Sun
day games Here France went ahead and
Austria marched dH pas. The consequences
have been obvious enough. The battle Of Sol
ferino has been won by the superiority of the
French artillery. The shells from the French
rifled cannon fell at distances whence the old
guns could not reply. Every reader can work
out the Iesult The enemy's artillery was
sileneed before il could come within effective
distance. Mans thews aud flesh are to-day as
they were thousand years ago, but machinery
Is not thus immutable. Mere "pluck" and
courage, and standing still in squares and
coming forward in lines, is Of no use if there is
engine two miles of which will NOW down
your lines and reap q sth-harvest in your
squares before you can reach your living enemy
All that is left in such n case to gentleman Of
the old school is to die with dignity and CON
staney, seorning, If he should so please, with
his last breath, the foe that seeks victory by
such piebeian and irregular means.
WA breach between the Archbishop OF Paris
and the Court is talked OF. The Archbishop Is
said To have given the request to oficiate at the
"fe DeuD- for the battle of Magenta some such
this. II mn IN th1nk xJf wi far