Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-07-28
FRANCE N PRUSSIA.
Historical Facts Concerning the River
~ Rhine as a Boundary between
the BeHlleeFeats.
General Louis Jules TrOeha, the HBest
Soldier IN Franeo"-AmsrIcan csmRis.
sioners 10 the Seat Of War.
From the New York Times.

Startling as 1t may appear, the his
torical fact of a Rhine frontier is 400
years old. 1t came in with the Franks
when they overran the Roman prov
ince of Gaul in the fifth century it
was established by Clovis, the first OF
Frankish Kings; it was restored and
then overIeapt by Charlemagne. the
ssEmperor of the West" three centu-
riss later; the great Philip Augustus
made, in the beginning of the 18th
century, a forty years reign glorious
by ruling over a territory that extend
ed frUm the Rhine 10 the Pyrenees.
Louis, the Saint, retained the Rhine
boundary, and added Provence and
Languedoc, while Louis Qaatorze,
"the great monarch" par e.reellGnee,
convulsed Europe at the end of the
seventeenth century, by his efforts to
regain the provinces on the left bank
of the Rhine, which had been Wrested
from his predecessors. Napoleon l..
only fulfilled a national aspiration
when he made Flanders, Luxemberg,
and other territories between the
Rhine and the sea, an integral portion
of the First Empire, and Napoleon
III. is perfectly aware that he would
cover his name with imperishable
glory by making the Rhine, the Py-
renees, the Alps aud the ocean, the
boundaries of mOderR France.
1t needs but superficial glance at
the map to perceive that there is a
species of territorial fitness in this
much coveted Rhine frontier. Begin
ming at the Mediterranean, France is
,...aNa1 GraV,n Tfalvr h. Nhn AFaR nAI
the Alps; from Switzerland by the
Rhine and the mountains of Jura, and
finally, from the Grand Duchy of Ba-
den by the Rhine. Just at the angle
which the Lauter forms by falling in
to the Rhine, the natural boundary
ceases, and an imaginary line COM
menees, which runs to the North Sea.
Taking this line as the base Of a tri-
angle, and the further eOur=e of the
Rhine and the sea coast as the
two sides, we have a territory,
One-half OF which is occupied by
the Kingdom of Belgium, and
the other by Rhenish Ba-
varia, Rhenish Hesse, Rhenish Prus-
STA, and asmall slice OF Holland, COM
pretending a superficial area which
may be roughly stated at q, 900 square
-
miles, occupied by a population which
probably numbers $3.50, 600. In Ian
guage, not Over 3,000,0 600 of these
speak French, the remainder using
their Flemish, Dutch or German, with
an occasional mixture OF patois, COM
pounded out of some two of these four
languages. So far as national sympa-
thies 90, the German population and
tho Lunnaf1h nnnfinr1 of RAiRanVn h0yyn
an intense aversion to France, while
the avowed purtisans of an extension
of the empire only exist in some of
the large cities Of Belgium, and even
there have but little power of in
huenee.I
Any obvious determination on the
part of France to make a comprehen-
sive annexation OF the left bank Of the
Rhine would probably be a signal for
a contest from which scarcely any of
the Great Powers of Europe could
stand aloof. The independence of
Belgium is guaranteed by Russia,
Prussia, Austria and England, as well
as by France. On the partition of
Europe in 1915, it was given to the
King of Holland, and after the sur
cessful revolution in 1880, the same
powers that had consented to the
treaty of Vienna concluded a fresh
agreement in London, which made
the maintenance of the newly created
kingdom, shortly after accepted by
Leopold, of Saxe-Coburg, a question
which each and all of them would be
obliged to support by lorce of arms.
The PrusSian possession on the left
bank of the Rhine may probably be-
come the Immediate theater of war,
and the development of French policy
will, no doubt, be mainly guided by
the success OF failure OF the early ope-
ratiOns there.
From the New York Army and Navy
Journal of the Esd.
GENERAL LOUIS JULES TROCHU.
a Won Moltke was hardly known
TO readers out of Prussia anterior to
the splendid campaign which ended
at SadoWa, the nan TO whose brain
will be due whatever successful STRAIT.
.egy shall characterize the French
arms in the coming war is as yet I'M
named. General Louis jules Trochu
is to-day undeniably the best soldier
of France. He is now tiity-tive wears
Of age. A graduate of the staff School
Of st. Cyr, he was made lieutenant in
1910, and promoted to a captaincy in
1913. His first staff service was with
that fine soldier Bugeaud, in Algeria.
Chef d'escadron and major in 1916,
and lieutenant colonel in 1853, his
first European service was in the
Italian campaign. At the commence
ment of the Crimean war he was
made chief of the general staff, and
by reference to Kinglake's History, it
will be een that in all conferences
with Lord Raglan, Trechu, rather
than st. Arnaud or CanrObert, was
spokesman on the part of France.
Throughout the campaign, having
been made general of brigade
in 1854, he occupied this posi-
ton of confidential staff officer
of the commander-in-chie an office
analogous to that of Gneisenau under
Butcher, given in just recognition of
his military ability and skill. In 1864
he reached his grade of general of
division. Two years after he was
charged with the preparation of a plan
to reOrganize the army. Instead OF,
as has been suggested, lacking the
imperial confidence, he has it in the
most h~attering degree. His essay
upon organization, II ArB3ee Fran
cdise,' published in 1867, ran through
ten editions. Trochu is known to
have anticipated the event of o war
with Prussia. A recent pamphlet
from his pen, which unfortunately
cannot be obtained in this country,
develops an immense deal of study of
the Rhenish frontier as a fighting
field, and palpably indicates the ma
tional impulse as occupying the STRAIT
egist's mind. Should the war survive
its first battle a fortnight, and promise,
as seems very likely, to be a long one,
TrOchu's name may chance to appear
at the head of the French armies"
From the New York Herald, 24th.1
DISTINGUISHED ARMY AND NAVY
OFFICERS ORDERED TO EUROPE.
The Government has concluded to
send to the Continent boards of army
and navy officers to witness the opera.
lions of the great armies on the Rhine
and the naval movements in the
North Sea and on the Baltic.
In this the Government follows old
precedents. During our late war
scientific officers were detailed by the
leading European Powers to accom-
pany Onr great armies and to join our
lighting Squadrons. The headquar-
tiers of the Army of the Potomac was
always thronged with distinguished
foreign officers of the scientific
branches of the service, and the fruit
of their observation was not lost upon
the commanding generals of the