The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-02
THE EUROPEAN CONFLICT.

early edition.
THE EUROPEAN CONFLICT.
In specializing upon the relative chances OF
success of the great armies which now con-
front each other in Europe, it is difficult to
make sufficient allowance for the marvellous
diminution of French power which has oc-
CURED since the days when the first Napoleon
held the whole Continent in awe. France
has never yet recovered from the overwhelm-
ing defeat she suffered half q century ago,
and we do not believe she ever will. The
whole foreign policy of the present Emperor
has been based on O distinct and humiliating
recognition of this fact. He has
never dared, like his great uncle, to
defy q combination of other nations. On the
contrary, he has persistently followed the
directly opposite course of sedulously seeking
combinations with other powers before he
ventured to measure swords with any single
object of his enmity. When he wished to
Eight Russia he secured the aid of England
and Sardinia. When he made war against
Russia he did so as the ally of Victor Emanuel,
instead of conducting hostilities on his W
account. He did not even venture upon his
disastrous Mexican enterprise until he had
the promise of cooperation from Spain and
England, the moral help of Austria, and the
hope of recruiting a strong French party
among the citizens of the country he invaded.
Now, for the first time in his life, does he
undertake a serious campaign on purely
French resources. Even in this combat he
has been intriguing for Austrian and Italian
assistance, and calculating (vainly, we hope)
upon the disaffection of portions of Prussia's
new territorial accessions and the sympa-
thetic aid of little Denmark. Times have
sadly changed since France must needs 90
begging for help in a contest with q single
European power.
This relative decadence is not the only
difficulty against which the present Emperor
must contend. Many roads to Germany were
open to the first Napoleon. He was free to
choose whether he would march through Bel
GUM, violate the neutrality of Switzerland,
or enter the friendly gates he kept open by
his lavish promises to the Rhenish provinces.
Now entrance through Belgium or Luxem-
burg can be made by Louis Napoleon only at
the risk of encountering the open hostility of
England and Russia. If he traverses
Swiss territory he will awaken
dangerous jealousies and antagonisms, and
there is only left a narrow strip Of Prussian
and South German territory, which bristles
with fortresses and is defended by three
quarters of a million of r~esolute soldiers.
On this line Of operations it is a grave ques-
tion whether he will over be able:.to make a
telling offensive demonstration, and if he
does not guard his strongholds with extreme
care the Prussians will make France, instead
of Germany, the seat of war.
The only advantage enjoyed by the present
Emperor over the first Napoleon is in the
superiority of the naval strength of the
former. 1t remains to be seen how decisive
this advantage will prove. The original Cor
sican fitted out great fleets, too, but they went
to sea only to become the prey of English
cruisers, and to demonstrate that the con.
queror of armies was doomed to perpetual
defeat on the ocean. 1t would be singular if
this fate should now be reversed, and the
French army on the Rhine with its imperial
leader be defeated while his navy was spread
ing havoc on the Prussian coast. Yet such a
spectacle is by no means improbable. The
deep indignation aroused at Berlin by
the eagerness of the British merchants to
tuIuiSh codi W tuo GnupoIOf duu INC dctfYe
exertions made to defend the Germanic ports,
joined to the fact that a formidable array of
French vessels of war is even now within easy
sailing distance of their probable points of
attack, indicate that the Prussians have much
more serious apprehensions of danger from
the cannon of the French iron-clads than
from the Chassepots of the French soldiers.
That the Germans will bring many powerful
agencies to bear in defending their imperilled
coast, however, cannot be doubted. and at
the worst they will bear manfully any damages
that may be inflicted.
In all the early struggles Of the first Napo-
leon he was greatly assisted by the daring
republican sentiment of his own troops, and
indirectly by the democratic proclivities of
portions of the population whose territories
he invaded. The present Emperor is regarded
not only as the deadly foe but as the despica-
bic betrayer of liberty by every intelligent
republican of Europe, and while he will fail
TO win the cordial support of the liberal
Frenchmen whose rights he has shamefully
violated, every republican of Germany will
eight against him with all the energy that deep
political feeling, combined with patriotism,
can inspire. The mighty people whom Ma
poleon has wantonly assailed viii strike not
only for their loved Fatherland which thew
wish to have legally expanded
nWhere'er 10 heard the German tongue,