New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-09

Il
which BIumenthal gives. He tried to persuade
the King and Moltke of the futility OF recon-
nOissances in force and OF the expediency OF
marching straight on Vienna after the first bat
| tie won. Your majesty he said, should Just
| lay your ruler on the map In a line between
Gitschin and Vienna. draw your pencil along the
| ruler and march straight along that Hner' The
other incident relates to Bohemian who was
! arrested for putting poison In oat cakes made
for Prussian troops. In a couple OF days
hope to be able to hang the fellow" he says.
/ Further on he returns to the subject, worrying
because he has not yet succeeded in getting the
fellow executed. and when the question passes
from under his immediate jurisdiction he writes,
with undisguised indignation, That scOUndrel is
not yet hanged He has a good story OF
Moltke. In a letter to his wife which had fallen
into the hands of the Austrians and had made
it's way into print BlUmenthaI happened to have
spoken rather roughly OF the great commander.
Il requested the Crown Prince he says. ito
lay it before the King and MOltke. he did SO in
Nikolsberg. The King was highly amused and
/ laughed heartily. but Moltke did not wish to
| read it He said it addressed TO my wife.
| and had not been intended for him"
/ The journal dealing with the Franco Prussian
| War is longer than the other and in parts Is
/ tedious, but it contains some significant pas
| sages. He quotes from a talk he had had with
/ MOltke in 1856. in which the general said to
him: The quarrel with France must some day
be fought Quit is unavoidable; and though I
shall not live to see it, you will" BlumenthaI
| himself was then convinced that the struggle
was not far of. When it came he seems to
have carried into it hercer spirit than that
| which animated MoItke. OF course, he says
nothing about the dubious side OF Bismarck's
| responsibility He sees him only in a favorable
| hght-untn Bismarck seeks to import politics
into what the field marshal felt should have
remained purely military enterprise. He
| quotes the King as saying: "A clear conscience
| ana a sharp sword-these are our weapons and
| with these we shall win" In the field and at
| headquarters he was annoyed by intrusive per-
sons as he had been annoyed in Is6G. but the
general testimony of his journal is that in the
| Interval the Prussian army had learned a good
deal, and that its affairs were administered with
much more judgment MoItke re appears, cold
and calm. as always" Only once does his reservs
| seem TO break down. when he comes in rubbing
| MS hands, and smiling sardonicaIly. says Now
| we have them in a mOusetrap." The Kina, is
represented as standing the wear and tear of the
campaign with marvellous resource. but deem
ly concerned over the losses among his officers
The Crown Prince lis quite cheerful and ALWAYS
KIND Bismarck moves masterfully among all
the great figures OF the army, sometimes talking
1
MN on some occasions, as when he says that
we need no longer dread any interference on the
part OF the dipIOmatics.'' But later the field
marshal is furious when Bismarck moves
heaven and earth to have Paris bombarded. an
act which seems to the soldier so useless as to
be positively silly 1t was no instinct of gener-
osity toward the French that made BIumenthaI
oppose this policy. If he had thought that the
bombardment would really do effective damage
| he would have advocated it with fervor
He belonged to the party OF those in whose
| eyes the French could have no virtues. and
thorough" was his watchwOrd- He had no mag
nanimity for Napoleon III. whose fall he thought
was amply deserved Upon the highrOad We
met Moltke," he says. from whom We learnt
that Louis Napoleon had arrived in Donchery
in the early morning. and there, in a simple
workman's hut. had sat and talked with Bis
marck for several hours The mighty are
fallen indeed. though 1 cannot say that I have
much pity for this one. For the tn5OIence with
which he treated our King and country. and
for having provoked this war he is now justly
punished Even with all OF the EruperOr'5
faults and blunders counted up against him.
if the reader happens to have the Ems dispatch
in his mind. these lines seem to him 4 little
harsh. But they are mild compared with those
in which BlumenthaI expresses his view OF the
proper policy for his King to pursue. It is his
hot aTTovE