STRATEGY. 523 



pacity and merit only, such men would have never 

 even risen to be corporals. 



Under the pressure of a great emergency, or 

 when the whole nation smarts from the sting of 

 some great disaster, " men of genius," instead of 

 " monied men," will be selected to officer the 

 finest soldiers in the world. Europe is now a great 

 military camp, and continental armies are com- 

 manded by experienced generals who are no pedants 

 of the old school, so that, in the present time, an 

 error of strategy may lead not only to defeat but 

 annihilation. 



Washington Irving says " the natural principle 

 of war is to do the most harm to the enemy with 

 the least harm to ourselves, and this of course is to 

 be effected by stratagem." The simple fact that 

 there is not a single standard work on strategy in 

 the English language shows how very little atten- 

 tion Government has hitherto paid to one of the 

 most important points in making the army tho- 

 roughly efficient, viz. — the training of the officers. 



Having seen the salt-works and all that is 

 remarkable about Gmunden, I bade adieu to my 



