New-York tribune., 1870-08-09
conclusion clear beyond any doubt, though
the investigation may never wholly clear up
the terrible mystery.
T1R TOPICS.

.howp in our war of the Rebellion, that young
men are the best generals. The Crown Prince
of Prussia. who has the chief glory of the
defeat of the French army, Is not yet thirty
nine wears old, and before he was thrty-fve
no had made himself great name at Sadowa.
prince Frederick Charles, the Kings nephew,
who commands the Prussian right, and is
esteemed the ablest of all King Williams
generals. il forty-two years old. Most of the
fighting at Sadowa was done by his army.
Nearly all the French leaders are old men.
The French journals published in this city
appeared Yesterday without the news of the
defeat of MacMahon and Frossard, the excite
ment in Paris, the proclamation of the Cabinet,
or the bulletin of the Empress Nay, one of
them devoted its first three cOlOmns to the
elaboration of theory of the battle, based
upon the news of Friday and Saturday, and
arrived at the conclusion that if certain sup
posed movements had taken place, "the
"army of the Crown Prince must have
"been not only vanquished but broken to
pieces. inasmuch as it could receive effective
succor neither from Prince Frederick Charles
nor from King William, having been cut off
from them by the French movement against
Neuenkirchen on Thursday" There is so
much virtue IN an if! The French journals
receive no telegraphic dispatches but it is
strange that they should have remained all
Sunday afternoon and evening in Ignorance of
the serious intelligence which was then posted
on the bulletins and agitating The whole city,
The French army has been out-generaled
and out-fought. At the beginning of the cam
paign all the conditions were in the Emperor's
" la in vayinu
as Won Steinmetz beat Frossard, and the
Crown Prince decidedly beat Mcmahon. The
strategy of the Prussian left was indeed
in beautiful contrast with all the French
movements up to this time In actual conflict
the superiority of the Prussians seems, from
the present meager accounts, to have been
equally marked. There have been fair stand
up fights and headlOng charges and the Ger
mans have shown, in addition to their charac-
teristic steadiness and obstinacy, all that elan
which is supposed to be the distinguishing
merit of the French.
The Baltic expedition is indefinitely post
poned, and its commander, Gen. TrOchu, goes
to Metz to relieve Bazaine, who takes the
place of Lebpuf. Gen. TrOchu is younger
man than most of the other corps com
manders, and military critics rate him as one
of the best of French commanders.
AS soon as Napoleon is beaten, Prussia
assumes peremptOry tone towards England
at which nobody outside of England will be
displeased-and Immediately England takes a
decided attitude on the question OF Belgian
neutrality-at which nobody outside of France
will be displeased. Prussia is already expe-
riencing the correctness of the old saying,
that nothing succeeds like success, and En-
gland has evidently learned the same great
truth.
1t is supposed that Denmark is not so
anxious now for French alliance as she was
week ago.
Napoleon is reported to be sick. We don't
doubt it. He is the sickest man in Europe.
The tranquil infant has returned to Paris
with his bullet. The army has wept again.
Minister Olivier rightly appreciates the
estimation in which he is held by Frenchmen.
In both the proclamations which he has issued
since the French defeat he has begun by as
suring the people that "the whole truth has
"been told them" The assurance was GER
tainly needed, in view of former deceitful
practices of the Government.
The attack of the Crown Prince at Weis-
senburg seems to have been q complete sur
prise. Gen. DOuay knew nothing of his danger
until the Prussian artillery began to play upon
him. Then the French account says he was
outnumbered; but that he was so is more dis
creditable to the French than any other blunder
of the campaign.
The idea of the mitrailleuse according to
The Army and Nary Journal, was borrowed
from the American Gatling gun, which had
been submitted to the French Government
just before the famous machine now used in
NapoleOn's army was first made. There is q
Belgian gun of the same kind, the invention
of MOntigny, which is said to be superior to
the French. The following figures are given
as the result of an experimental trial of the
Montigny and Gatling guns: With target
81 feet long by 26 feet high, at distance of
43O yards, out of $40 cartridges placed in the
Montigny gun, 27S struck, and at $50 yards the
hits were in the proportion of about
fifty per cent. The Calling gun was fired at
a target only ten feet square and 500 yards
distant, and of 10 shots not one missed. With
the same target at distance of 1000 yards
76 per cent of the shots struck. The story of
the terrible execution done by the mitrailleuse
upon yard full of broken down horses, like
the story of its moving down columns of
Plussians at Saarbruck, was no doubt intended
to be given to the army-as tonic. The men
would keep up wonderfully if they thought
every regiment had on its flank little ma
chine which, by the turn of crank, could scat
ter the enemys files in the twinkling of an
eye.
TOILERS OF THE NIGHT