The New York herald., 1870-08-13
THO War-6sme New Phases-Ths Neu
trahty Of Belgium and Luxembeurg.

details regarding the fighting Of last Saturday
convince US that the armies Of France were
badly managed on that fatal 9th of August-a
day henceforth not to bs forgotten 10 the
annals of either France or Prussia. Prussia,
and, indeed, the whole of Germany, will ever
be proud OF It. To Frenchmen 1t will be
dark day forever On that day, II French
soldiers were badly handled, the soldiers and
officers Of the Prussian army covered them
selves with glory. The moro that is known Of
that fight the more Napoleon is blamed. If
the Emperor does not in some way or other
| cOnirive to turn defeat into victory his i'm
parchment is by many competent judges con-
| sidered certain.
During the somewhat protracted suspension
of hostilites Prussia makes good her position,
strengthens herself in the rear, and steadily,
though neither rapidly nor rashly, pushes for
ward. France Is In state of the widest
excitement The demand for arms by the
people has been yielded to, and every able
bodied man in the country is soldier. The
enthusiasm Is intense and general among all
ranks and classes of the people. The Duke
Chartres have asked to be allowed to serve
their country. The new Ministry seems to
| have inspired condolences but il can hardly be
said to have had u fair trial. 1t is undoubtedly
| strongly Napoleonic. There are some who
make much Of this fact, and see In it proof Of
presents itself in totally different light. We
admit that 1t Is Napoleonic. All the
members are stanch Bonapartists and
it no doubt Is a good thing for Napoleon
that such Ministry has been formed. 1t pre-
vents revolution for the present. 1t gives the
Emperor another chance. 1t appears to us,
| however, that the Emperor is not much in
their thoughts. In their anxious desire 10
save their country from invasion the French
| people Of all ranks and classes have for the
moment equally forgotten the Emperor's great
merits and the Emperors great blunders.
The Emperor has already been deposed from the
| proud position of the Commandership-in- Chief.
| To man so ambitious Of figuring before the
| world as the modern Caesar this blow must be
| humiliating in the extreme. The London
Times well puts it when it says, victorious
| or discrowned is Napoleon's alternative on
| the next battle field" Ii the next retreat Is
conducted under the order Of Prussian
needle guns Napoleon must go to the wall.
Prussia feels anxious, perhaps alarmed,
about the coming operations Of the French
fleet in the Baltic and off her coast Her
anxiety is displayed in the threat of resort
to the ler tali0nes, as we are informed by
special cable telegram to-day. King William,
1t is said, has matured proclamation declar-
ing that for every act Of bombardment which
may be conducted by the French the Prussian
troops will burn or otherwise destroy French
village. This, II perfectly true, is simply
horrible. The French claim that the Prus-
SLAMS have 50 far engaged in most overwhelm-
ing, disproportion1te numbers, but that they
sustained the most severe losses notwithstand-
ing.
1t Is not by any means certain that
France will nCs recover from this blow and
move in such force on the enemy as to
turn the tide of battle towards Berlin. An
other Jena il not an impossibility. It will
take mighty effort on the part of Germany to
|
King William ought to repeat his proclamation
that be wars not against French citizens. But
he ought 10 improve it by saying that he fights
not against Frenchmen, but against the man
who has plunged two great, prosperous and
peace-loving nations into war. Another great
battle may be going on while we write 1t is
not possible that there can be much longer
delay. We have always said that battle
must be fought before Monday first,
somewhere between Metz and Stras-
bourg,. and probably within the next
twenty-four hours the two armies will
meet, and the conflict, be it long or short,
may be decisive. If France is again defeated
it is our confident belief that the war will
cease Napoleon will abdicate. The great
Powers will exert themselves to effect peace
on a reasonable but satisfactory basis, and
France will be left to decide between a mon
archy, with an Orleans prince on the throne,
aud republic. II, on the other hand, France
should drive the armies of King William back
within their own borders, it Is not our belief
that the struggle will be soon ended. Prussia
will not yield; Germany will not yield until
she is feIled to the earth and made helpless.
1t will be next to impossible for France TO
invade Prussia. What with the South German
States faithful on the one hand and Belgium
and Luxembourg neutral on the other, it will
be easy for Prussia to guard that narrow por-
ton of her territory which touches upon France.
The neutrality of Belgium makes the position
Of Prussia comparatively secure; and it Is
certain to have powerful influence in deter
mining the issue of the war. In securing
pledges from both France and Prussia that
they will respect the neutrality of Belgium the
Rritish craxarunaant ha a,alialao q