, 1866-08-14
5 Q, 6 & OK A. s,

Ii W lHClIl IllllC Nhoh ~ SUM-
chess or billiards. Had Benedek been
left in command at Verona, the same or
even more splendid success would have
attended the Austrian armies; but when
intruSted with a plan Of operations on so
complicated a field as the mountain from
tier of Bohemia, he seemed to feel his
own incompetence F.; and, as he took leave
of the Emperor, he reminded him, it is
said, that che was no strateglst," and all
he could "promise was to fight the Prus-
s'sians hard whenever he met them"
The n~eighbourhood of Vienna, the line of
the Danube, the Marchfield, the isle of
Lobau, and all those spots now classical
in military art, are certainly no less diff
cult ground than the defiles of Nachod or
Trautenau. Napoleon himself seemed
to be at his wits end before Vienna, and
if the PrusSians attempt any manGuvre
beyond a front attack on the tete-de-pOnt
at FloridSdorf, the son aud heir of the
Archdukc Charles will have occasion for
all the resources of his fathers tactics.
The Austrians stand on ground of their
own-on fields which they know span
by span, on positions which their art has
for some time %striven TO turn to the best
duNntlGdHC buL al C1GSC IiCutIISLdJCCS
initiated equally in their favour at Sado-
wa and K0higgratz, as they did at Sol
frrino; yet those and many other fields
were lost by them, through no want of
skill possibly, through no lack of valour
certainly, but owing, perhaps, to that ILL
luck which warned them of old against
seeking their advantage in war, and adj
vised them to promote their interests by
matrimonial alliances.
Notwithstanding these drawbacks, and
Notwithstanding the gloomy antlcipations
of even the best friends of Austria as to
tho results Of Tie battle nuw Impending,
it would be irrational to feel an absolute
confidence that fortune will continue
faithful to those Prussian standards which
it has hitherto so constantly befriended.
The Prussians have been playing a high
game they are running a desperate VEN
ture they have marched five hundred
miles into an enemy'S territory /; they are
separated 10y three large kingdoms from
their basis of operations; they have left
hostile fortresSes in their rear and on
either flank. Success, uninterrupted sue
cess is for them a necessity, a'conditlon of
life. The consequences of a reverse
would he beyond calculation. Ihey
have in front an enemy in all probability
superior in numbers, by no means inferior
in strength and courage, unappalled
even in defeat, and partly also not only
unbroken, but flushed with recent victory.
They have before them a broad and deep
river, a long line of ramparts, a formlda-
BILE array of heavy artillery. The Prus-
SLAMS seem aware of their danger, and are
strainiDg every nerve 10 bring up all the
forces at their disposal. The communica-
lions between their various corps are
kept up with the utmost diligence, and
all their movements tend 10 a general
concentration towards those lines of
Floridsdorf which will in all probability
be the first scene ofthe approaching strug-
gle. The possession of all the Saxon aud
Bohemian railway lines, and their iaie
victories against the Federals on the
Main, enable them to summon up large
bodies of troops which were either en-
gagged or intended for engagement in Ba-
varia. On the other hand, the Austrians
also have been and are collecting all their
troops for a decisive effort. 1t will be
difficult for the Prussians to match their