, 1870-08-17

seriousness OF numbers not only al Metz,
but On the Rhine. They are pou11ng
scroes from South Germany, and tAye a.
ready occupied Mulhausen and besaneon'
in tue proviuees Of the Upper Kline, along
Tho ,on1er OF Switzerland. They mean to
1o,.o mi q city or hamlet Of the Rhine
o,,,rccs in French possession, Or in |
do,,,,t From Sicrck and Saarbruck4 the |
extreme northern point to Besancon, the |
extreme southern point, Of rrussian occu-
nation, is fully one hundred and fifty miles.
or nearly equal to the distance from Metz
Ia Paris What may ho tho object Of 50
extensive an occupation Of French terri.
tory, and whether it may be Designed to
saver railroad Communication with the
south Of Franco, remains to bo seen. Ger
tainly, the Prnssians are hnrfying into,
and spreading over, France with confi-
dcnce that fully snssains the growing esi-
dence Of their nuuahesa-
Mulhausso il city Of a0, 600 Inhabitants.
on the III, seventy miles south from st1as-'
bourg, extensively engaged IN the manutac-.
turo Of cotton prints and snusGns, IN which
it supports 3 population OF about lo,ooo
persons not resident in the city.
BesAncon is still more Important fort'. ;:
ded town, capital of the French Depart
n,snt OF Doubs fully sixty miles from the
Rhine, On the Rhone, containing, in 1856.
1854 inhabitants, aud now, probably,
so,oU0. It is the .Yesantio OF Cpsar's
"'Bellum GalIicum;" was destroyed by the
!Allenauii (Germans) in the time Of Julian
the Apostate, and again by the Huns and
the VandalB in 4. D. 1856; ~as rebuilt by
the Durgundiana md became their chief
city. Under the Emperor Frede1ick I. 1t
was made free imperial German city iu
lice. From tho ninth to tho thirteenth
century it WAS called Chsysopolis, or chs
Golden City. It was ceded to France BY
the treat7 Of Nineguen in lGss- In 1sl.
| the Aus.rians, untier Prince Lichtenstain,
besiegcd, bat failed to capture it. Among
| the eminent natives of Besaucon were
Granville, the Minister Of Charles ", -A1ar-
sha1 Money, Victor Hugo, Charles Fourier.
and Proudhon.
Besides these important acquisitions, the
past twenty-four hours bring us the 1ntslli'
| gence Of the capture Of the fortress Of
Marsal, nesr Nancy, with sixty cannon.
In looking over the causcs which havt
determined the superiority of the pruss,an,
thus far, we can see none that will not bt
increased and intensified IN every futurs
phase Of the campaign- If the personne'
material, and organization Of their armie
were superior at first, still more must the.
excel now and hereafter. If they ha'
strategists equal to the task of routing an
demoralizing the French army in the 1us
Of its hope and spirit, and when its Ger
erals thought themselves prepared to il
wade Germany, still more easy will
be for them to continue the rot
Of an army which has now bee
six or seven times beaten mud uer<
successful. 1t would require q genius or
Miracle to reorganize and restore tt
; French army so as to bring it up to an,
: thing like the degree Of efficiency it. po
sesred at the battle of Weissenburg. II
0 Pussians, meanwhile, have been constant
+ improving. The new leyies with which Il
gaps in the prussian regiments have BET
t dued up aze fully equal to the old matcris
o The new French levies, however, are I
a inferior to that they replace. The conte
II must be fought out, in the main, by i
'e armies assembled by the two powers at
In commencement Ut the war. The Prussia
Oh are superior in discipline, intelligence, O
" GERS, organization. soldierly spirit, and no
:, it appears, in numbers And these e
u ,nents Of superiority arc constantly
oN crcasing.