Before we begin the narrative of events we must once
more call attention to the numbers. It appears day by day more probable that the German account was correct, and that France was in- vaded or threatened by an army such as the world has never seen. The Krieg's Zeitung, of Berlin, has been allowed to break through the veil, and gives the positions of the corps d'arnzee. We quote its statement elsewhere, but its general effect is this. The Red Prince is encamped around Metz and Bazaine with seven corps, or 270,000 men ; the Saxon Crown Prince won a battle at Carignan with two corps and the Guard, or 95,000 men ; there are 60,000 men round Strasburg ; and there is the Crown Prince, whose army, joined as it was by the King, cannot be under seven corps, or 210,000 more. This calculation, which is certainly correct if Ger- many has really filled up losses by sickness as well as battle, gives a total of 570,000 men actually in France,—less by 70,000 than the Germans claim. No effort like this has ever been made by a modern people, and we do not wonder that the French Generals feel stunned, or that cool observers should say Napoleon was right,—this is a danger to Europe. There is certainly no State existing at this moment in Continental Europe which could stand the shock of the German arms.
