, 1866-04-24

any moment appear to be offering peace.
But white The heart OF Austria lies almost
lnvulnerable behind the mountains which
wall in the northern frontier of Bohemia,
Berlin stands in a plain which can be
crossed, and Prussia may be forced to
fight on ground not of her choosing for
the defence Of her capital. The %necessi-
ties of the Ea.pire IS we'll as his own
character will tempt tile Kaiser to make
the war short and decisive, and the Wen
nese journals talk of a march on Berlin
as if it were a military promenade. 1t is
not that. as a glance at the system of
tortresses to be passed will show, but the
possibility of such Il march is an element
in the calculation on the Austria side. A
pitched battle lost before Berlin would
encourage the Duchies to rise, the petty
States to aid Austria, and the money
lenders to trust her with one more loan.
The two powers, then, are tOlerably
equal, that is, the campaign may be du-
blous, costly, and horribly murderous,
but even this is but a part Of the caIami-
ty. Another war is almost sure to com
mence upon the Southern frontier, for
Italy will not miss her opportunity, and
the temptation to Napoleon will te al
most irresistible. One great battle fought,
he is master OF the situation, able to
demand his own price f.om either power.
II he decides for Austria, he brings into
the field 100000 French soldiers, and a
restraining hold on Italy if for Prussia,
he will control more than n million of
disciplined men, experienced in two
campaigns, and resting on c0nscripti0n
laws obeyed by flty-eight millions OF
people. He brings, too, the power of
arousing if necessary the nationalities,
and a fleet which might make Venice
speedily untenable. To such an arbiter
nothing can be refused, and such an op-
%portun}ty OF founding his dynasty will
certainly never occur again. Once
France moves, the war would be Euro
pcan in It's range. The a~sSaiIed would
be fighting for life, and would be com
PEELED either to draw England into the
struggle, or that proving impossible-an
assumption much too hastily made while
Belgian is on the Rhine, and Turkey
almost guarantced-buy the immense
assistance of Russia. Such combinations
are Of course at present mere dreams,
but with Austria and Prussia in open
conflict public law ceases in Europe, and
anything becomes possible to those who
have bayonets al command. The scene
Of 1915 may be repeated, and though the
war is almost sure TO be short, it may
accomplish changes as great as those
which were registered and I~egaIized by
the Congress of Vienna.
England is for the present, as we shew-
ell last week, fairly out Of the fray,
though the ultimate result of all such
wars, the compensation Of the strong at
the expense of the weak, may yet drag
her into its vortex. As between Prussia
and Austria compensations are possible to
almost any extent and of little concern to
this country, which at heart would see
Germany divided into a Northern and
Southern Empire not only with indiffer-
ence but with pleasure. But France
wants for her price a frontier which the
elder statesmen of England fear to con-
cede, may ask ore which they would
resist by force. Russia wants bits of
Turkey, which also it is always presum-
ed we should defend, and in either case
we are again at war. AS between the
principals, however, England has no in
~terests, and will have some difficulty in