" I confess I do not understand: perhaps there are diplomatic subtleties here beyond my feeble intelligence, but I can't make it out.

Mack loses a whole army, the Archduke Ferdinand and the Archduke Karl give no signs of life and make blunder after blunder.

Kutuzov alone at last gains a real victory, destroying the spell of the invincibility of the French, and the Minister of War does not even care to hear the details.

" "That's just it, my dear fellow.