Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 2.djvu/260

 400 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS ties, while engaged in the Topographical Department, he wrote a pamphlet, pub- lished at Berlin, entitled " Holland and Belgium," by H. von Moltke, in which he calls the attention of Europe to the Belgian Revolution ; this was followed: in 1845, by a critical military work of great merit, "The Russo-Turkish Cam- paign of 1828-29 in European Turkey," which created a deep impression in military circles, and proved of considerable service in the Russo-Turkish cam- paign of 1877-78. Moltke's pithy and laconic style was founded on the model of his chief, General von Muffling, his instructor in practical and theoretical tactics, in which the members of the German General Staff are required to excel. He was a graphic writer and shrewd observer of men and things, as his charming letters from Russia, France, Turkey, and other places show. Especially saga- cious were his observations on the Turks, made to his sister, married to Mr. John Burt, an Englishman settled at Holstein, in which he affirms that the king- dom is rotten, that Turkey had fallen under a ban, and that ban the Koran, which teaches so warped a doctrine that its laws and decrees must of necessity oppose all social progress. His views on Russia, as indicated in his letters writ- ten in the form of a diary to his wife on the occasion of his visit in 1856, when accompanying Prince Frederick William at the coronation of the Czar Alex- ander n. at Moscow, show the same keen powers of observation. He consid- ered that Russia had a great future before her, but this could only be realized when her officials became more honest. " Honesty among Russian officials," he thinks, " can only be brought about by many years of iron severity." Of the difficulty of governing the French nation, he wrote, when visiting the court of Napoleon HI. : "It would be as impossible to allow the liberty of the press in France as to admit discussion of the orders given by generals to their armies when in the field." We have not the advantage of knowing his views on Eng- land and the English on the three occasions, in 1856, 1858, and 1861, when he visited the country in company with the crown prince to be present at his betrothal and marriage to the princess royal, and again at the funeral of the prince consort. How highly his opinion as an authority was esteemed as early as 1867, is seen by an incident which occurred during the Universal Exhibition, when Count Moltke, in company with King William of Prussia and Count Bis- marck, dined with Napoleon HI. at St. Cloud. Subsequently, the emperor and Moltke engaged in an animated conversation apart from the rest. At this mo- ment Marshal Randon, Minister of War, walked across the room, and the emperor, noticing him, raised his voice, saying, " Come here, marshal. General Moltke says that with the needle-gun he would .be strong enough to fight even the French army." Marshal Randon drew near, and, turning toward Moltke, said, in a tone loud enough to be heard by all in the room, " Pardon me, general ; but, in spite of the high opinion I have of your judgment, I cannot share your belief. I venture to affirm, that even with the needle-gun, the French army would not suffer the fate of the Austrian army ; " and the conversation continued without the bystanders being able to follow it. But after the departure of the King of Prussia and his suite. Napoleon III., struck by these words, energetically