Chapter II: Preface: To the Second Edition

The rapid sale of the first edition of this translation has encouraged the Association at whose request it was made to endeavour to make it more widely known to the various English-speaking populations, by printing a larger edition at a lower price. It is hoped, also, that the enlarged circulation of a work so graphic, and written by one who has so thoroughly studied the real aspects of war, as seen by those on the spot, may lead not so much to sentimental emotions and vague protests, as to a business-like discussion of the means by which the resort to war may be at any rate rendered more and more infrequent. The English Government has lately given repeated and practical proofs of its sincere desire to substitute the peaceful and rational method of arbitration for the rough, cruel, and uncertain decision of force; and the conspicuous success of that method hitherto--though tried under circumstances not altogether favourable--must have prepared thinking men for the question: “Why cannot some scheme for the formation of an International Tribunal of Arbitration be formed and debated among the Powers who, by taking part in the Congress at Paris after the Crimean War, formally admitted the principle, and who have already seen it successfully applied in practice”? To this question, which has been frequently asked, no satisfactory answer has yet been given, nor to the further question why our Government should not introduce the subject to the great Powers, after showing so unmistakably its adherence to the principle. People differ, and, probably, will always differ, as to the light in which they regard war. A very small and rapidly diminishing minority regard it as a good thing in itself--most as an evil which in our present stage of civilisation cannot always be avoided; some as a crime formally prohibited by the moral law and the Christian religion. All of the two latter classes ought to join in any practical steps for diminishing the occasions of war; and of these the one which is most within the scope of politicians is the promotion of International Arbitration. The Association to which I belong has published this work in the confident hope that its circulation will aid in hastening this much-needed reform.

THE TRANSLATOR.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Girlish days. My first marriage and birth of my first child. My husband summoned to the Italian war of 1859 1

CHAPTER II.

Period of war. A wife’s anxieties. Terrible news 18

CHAPTER III.

Years of widowhood. Re-entry into society. Introduction to Baron Tilling. Manner of my husband’s death 40

CHAPTER IV.

Progress of my friendship for Tilling. His mother’s death. Growth of love 59

CHAPTER V.

Doubts and fears. Engagement to Tilling 84

CHAPTER VI.

Marriage and garrison life. Outbreak of the Schleswig-Holstein war. History of its causes 116

CHAPTER VII.

My husband ordered off to the war. Premature confinement and deadly peril. Letters from the seat of war 141

CHAPTER VIII.

Re-union. Financial ruin 164

CHAPTER IX.

Approach of the Austro-Prussian war. The preliminaries to it. War declared 187

CHAPTER X.

Early period of the war 215

CHAPTER XI.

War-sketches by a soldier who abhors war 231

CHAPTER XII.

After Königgrätz. My experiences in a journey over the Bohemian battlefields in search of my husband 245

CHAPTER XIII.

Prussian advance on Vienna. Life at Grumitz 283

CHAPTER XIV.

Festivities at Grumitz, followed by an outbreak of cholera which sweeps off nearly the whole family 303

CHAPTER XV.

Period of mourning. Discussion with a military chaplain. Death of Aunt Mary 327

CHAPTER XVI.

Threat of war between France and Prussia. Arbitration. Life in Paris during the exhibition of 1868 and afterwards in 1870. Birth of a daughter 356

CHAPTER XVII.

Approach of war between France and Prussia. We linger in Paris. War breaks out 380

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Franco-German war. Departure from Paris prevented by illness. Siege of Paris. My husband shot by the Communards 396

CHAPTER XIX.

The end. “Hail to the future!” 420

LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS.