excitement of forces small, a cautious commander tries in all kinds
of ways, without great crises and bloody solutions, to twist himself
skilfully into a peace through the characteristic weaknesses of his
enemy in the field and in the Cabinet, we have no right to find
fault with him, if the premises on which he acts are well founded and
justified by success; still we must require him to remember that he only
travels on forbidden tracks, where the God of War may surprise him; that
he ought always to keep his eye on the enemy, in order that he may not
have to defend himself with a dress rapier if the enemy takes up a sharp
sword.

The consequences of the nature of War, how ends and means act in it, how
in the modifications of reality it deviates sometimes more, sometimes
less, from its strict original conception, fluctuating backwards and
forwards, yet always remaining under that strict conception as under a
supreme law: all this we must retain before us, and bear constantly
in mind in the consideration of each of the succeeding subjects, if we
would rightly comprehend their true relations and proper importance, and
not become involved incessantly in the most glaring contradictions with
the reality, and at last with our own selves.



CHAPTER III. THE GENIUS FOR WAR

EVERY special calling in life, if it is to be followed with success,
requires peculiar qualifications of understanding and soul. Where
these are of a high order, and manifest themselves by extraordinary
achievements, the mind to which they belong is termed GENIUS.