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*dloh7».Ufamdy there is nothing jn (bn interior worth, re* cording.I am on the point of starting in a carriage to the Republic of San Merino, which is about fifteen miles from here, end of which I will send yon an account in my letter of to-morrow.eII»titer*rieerhB*11III»1It1ISAXONY.(from OUR 8PBCIAL COBBlflPOIfDlNT.)DRESDEN, August 21.The quiet of this city after the turmoil and bustle of Prague affords a strong sense of relief, the lattercity being crammed to repletion witb Prussian soldiers of every arm. Here there are now only a few landwehr—I believe only two regiments, and apparently of the most recent levies, as the men are not armed with the mmdnaddgetcehr, but with the old pattern rifle, and their accoutrements present an appearance which would indicate that they had been drawn from the remains of stores long since out of date, as some have the old large car-touch-box with shoulder belts, some the waist belt, others shakos, and some only forage caps. Theyare, however, strong and stalwart men, even largerthan most of the Prussian infantry I have hithertoseen. The capital of Saxony is quite deserted, and in the large and handsome Royal Theatre there were only last night a few solitary individuals scattered here and there in the enormous rangesof velvet-covered boxes. Having desired to see the fiunous fortress of Konigstein, that has beeitsolopg the means of interruption of the Prussian communications bo-tween Dresden and Prague, net Only by the watery road of the Elbe but by the railway which runs dose beneath it, I started at an early hour by steamer from Dresden, and having remounted the strong current of the river for eomo four hours,, amidst the splendid scenery of the Saxon Switzerland, disembarked at the railway station of Kohigstein. The fortress itself had already been visible for an hoprbafore, as well as its rival height of Iitiehstein, oh tbo right bank of the Elbe, from which it is said that Napoleon had endeavoured to bombard Konigstein j hut that must he a fable, as the distance is too great. The fortress of Konigstein appeared towering some 1000 feet in the air from the flat summit of a rock completely scarped upon every side, and only to bo ascendod by a zig-zag ramp painfolly creeping up tho side of the mountain. Thcro wore no Prussian soldiers to be seen either in tho little town at its foot or on the road leading up to the fortress. However, after a toilsome ascent of about three-quarters of an hour, I at length arrived at a little inn, about 500 yards horizontally, and about 200 perpendicularly from its gates. This was the advanced post of the Ssxon garrison. Here I stopped to explain my individuality to the non-commissioned offieor in charge, who at onco most civilly volun. teered to Bend up to the fortress itself for permission from the general commanding to enter andvisit tho interior. After about an absence of half an hour he returned, howevor, with a most polite message from his excellency the Governor of Konigstein to say that he regretted much that he could not permit us to enter the place, and wishingKing of Hanover, Duke of Nqaaam Kur-Fumt iMasa, or Burgomaster of ilttakrt* mlofas King of Prussia, and as chief esaeuthre authority of the Prusriaa State. I think my-•elf Prussia deserves credit tor scorning such hypocritical dodges as sham appeals to * principles of nationalities,” or the varnishing over the right of war by pretending to consult universal suffrage. Her sincerity and straightforwardness do credit to Prussia, but the fearless way in which she repudiates French specifies for tegsHmng usurpation Is not Hkely to make her popular here.It is very natural to understand that Count Bismarck should be the bete noire of the French press, but I confess that to those who have not tho soma impassioned interest on the subject, this ceaseless denunciation of the Prussian Premier is getting rather wearisome. There is literally sotting newto be said; all the papers have now proclaimed theconduct iff the Prussian Premier to be atrocious. He was wrong to go to war; he was wrong to beat the Austriaas and their allies; lie was wrong to re-fuso the compensation which France wanted; and he was wrong in annexing the provinces he meantto annex. Chi this theme every journal in Paris hasbeen ringing the changes for the last fortnights and this sort of pastime has apparently sudh attractions that none of them appear in a hurry to leave It off. The public in France evidently eiyoy* tide newspaper warfare against Prussia,/nff* is oucue; but to impartial observers it is getting terribly uninteresting. Count Bismarck means to carry out his plan for tho unification of Germany in 4Jln^French veto, and the only way to preventWhy don’t thehim would be to go to war.French papers have the comuge to .mr.advocate that course, Instead of, lunm^igaway at sach mares’-nesta as * lC. de Bismarck 4s wedemocrat— We hope the Journal dee Befxt hiashamed of itaelfW'The Pi qsaian tyrant tramples pn the rights of peoples,” Ac. One ooeM understand our French contemporaries boldly laying down that France must have tho Rhino. frontiers, oven if sho has to fight for them; but on what grounds they object to German unity, after applauding Italian unity, they would be grea% puzzled'to say. In no pari of Germany does the?© exist (hat nepugnanco to Prussian rolathat has manifested itself for tho lost, three years in the mountains of Calabria. Our Jj*aruun emtfrhre* aro decidedly “ illogical.”M. Louis Blanc writetf to the Tempo, that he has lost an“ illusion.” He reconciled himself, it.seems,to the idea that the bulk of the English press rejoiced at the growth of a military power able to hold France in check, in the hopes that the Hotly Kews and Mr. Goldwin Fmitb—who generally advocate everything un-English, from the. most conscientious motives—would agree with 1dm ip fomenting over tho downfall of French predigew^. Prussian aggrandisement. It seems that both the learned professor and your able conteipponny have disappointed M. Louis Blanc. They have even summoned him tubeeome a convert to'Frpssiaaiem,i '“ under pain of being no longer numbered among«tfUU
Newspaper Details
London Standard
London, Middlesex, GB
Sat, Aug 25, 1866
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
California S.
CA, DZ 28 Oct 2019
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