The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1870-08-25
From the Columbia Fhenix.
sropress of the Prussian Arms.


i From the Columbia Phoenix.
Progress ofthe Prussian Arms
With resistless force as silent and
b ns crushing astbe course Of destIny
fuSsia continues hermarch TO Paris
sPs,c New York Times asserts that the
'.best possible position ou the Moselle'
has been as completely driven in as the
I frontier line between Sarrbrurk and
.sWci,senburg, and the invader is an
3 other stage Bearer to the capital ol
France. The *news of the evacuation
Metz may be premature, but cut ott as
,it.now is from all communic .tion with
Paris, and left, as it must necessarily
sbe, to the defence Of a garrison made.
sauate to its vast requirements, Its capt.,
Jilation can only be question of time
and its importance as bulBark against
rthe sconquerors is thoroughly neutral.
uised. About the evacuation of Nancy,
there can be question, and it is quite
clear that the $4,000 men lately sta.
tione on the Mosele have effected a
.retrcat to the line Of the Mouse, OF
Ray miles further back. The slow
with which the news travels in the
snt struggle is beyond all prcce
Nancy was entered on Friday.
We were not inpossession of the
E-fSct until an interval oftwo days. The
battles of Woerth aud Saarbruck were
fought ten days ago, and we are ouly
now beginning to appreciate their mag.
nitude, in viewing the results. First,
j the the possession Of A;sace was yielded
up without further struggle; then the
passes of the Vosges were tardily 'ad,
mittcd to be the property Of the enemy,
: and now the ancient province of Lor-
raine, the duchy of Lothaire, is'all but
.,overruu by the Prussians troops. That
l all this has-teen abandoned while two
thirds oftheFreuch army have not yet
faced the enemy, speaks volumes for
tprussian strategy and prowcss, as well
aas for their overwhelming numerical
strength.
J. Previous reverses have made Paris
l5ycalmer but not less defiant. 1t remains
to be seen whether the latest aud most
fatal yet of al the evidences Of weak.
ness which France has displayed in the
,-conrsc of the struggle, will leave her
confidence unshaken. Thereisa "a fcverish
: and desperate energy in tho statement,
"the hour approaches when the enemy
Z will be chased from the land" that in
spite of its incopgruity with existing
circumstances, lends it sort Of tragic
.pathos. There are still three lines of
Is defence to be passed before reaching the
Sgatcs of Paris, but who can tell whether
the Emperor will be prepared to NAL kc
"a stand either in the valley of the
Mouse, on the wood-studded plateau Of
the Argouncs, or amid the plains Of
s,central France, watcrcd By Aisne, the
Marne and the Seine. AZ one or other
Of these points stand must be made;
8 contest, 5nssasE Thiss, Rht'ts
Il. 51arpose is concerned,
s already ended, will render the French
commanders doubly caatiors in their
selection both of time and place
Their most highly trained troops have
been proved incapable ofstanding before
g the weight of the Prussiaa onset; they
! s,nay, therefore. reasonably hesitate be"
fore bringing into action an army rcln>
forced by raw levies from Paris, and
4 &4aptried soldiers from Chalons. To
engage the Prussians by sections be-
comes daily more impossible. Their
contracted ,wcdge-likc front is now
&. confined within space of about twenty
miles, and their three great divisions
y evidently advance with perfect unity
of plan and direction. The capture Of
strasbourg. which appears imminent
y sE4has assumed the chapacter of a mere
episode Of the campaign, just as that Of
= Metz may do, now that it is comeletely
isololated from its base of supplies.
8 The demonstration Of the fleet in the
y BALTIC comes all too late to. turn the
desperate fortunes ofthe Empire.
The French Government is justified
IN the boast that the internal dissen
sions on which the P.assians may have
reckoned do not exist. But while men
hsof alfshades Of politics vie with each
9 other in making sacrifices, unparalleled
4 in recent European history, for the
nreseryation of their common country,
there is an ominous under>tone Of dis
|. satisfaction that bodcs i'll for the future
Of the dynasty.
Places Mentioned in Recent war