THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 792, 9 February 1871, Page 2

THE WAR IN EUROPE.

NOTES AND INCIDENTS. The German waggoners attached to the array have addressed a petition to the King of Prussia, praying for dismissal. They urged that they had been 10 week* with their vehicles 600 miles from home, that both themselves and their horses are exhausted, and that their agricultural duties are very urgent. Having failed in. their representations to the. military authorities', they have ventured to appeal to the King personally. Preparations for a siege continue to be made in Lyons. A barricade committee has been formed, 50,000 Remington rifles have already arrived, and cattle and sheep are being collected. • Some attempts have been made by the Red Republicans to create disturbances have failed. In Marseilles the Red Republicans are also said * to be losing ground. Mr Leoni Levi estimates the cost of the war to France as follows :— Direct military and naval expenditure, L150,00Q.000; destruction and waste of property, L 150.000 ; capitalised loss of 150,000 men killed and wounded, with loss of productive power, L27O,00O,000; loss of national production and trade, L 30,000,000— total, L 600,000,000. Here, then, he says, we have tbe startling result, that in three short months France had nearly L 600,000,000, irrespectively altogether of what she may have to pay Prussia, to indemnify her for her loss, amounting to about 1/300,000,000, making the total loss for both countries' between 900 and - 1000 millions sterling. The cost of war is truly frightful. Modern wars have all been very destructive. It has been calj culated that the Crimean war cost L 340,000,000, the American war cost L 1,300 ,000,000, and the Italian war L 60,000,000, besides the loss of life, which is given for all these wars together, at not less than 1,700,000 men, including those slain on the battle-field, and those who died through wounds and disease. My estimate, however, of the cost of the war is larger, perhaps, than any hitherto made, by the addition of the money value of the property destroyed, and, above all, of the capitalized value of tße men killed and wounded. But this is the true aspect of the question, since the development of national resources is dependent on the extent of the productive forces available. Elasticity of character, and variety of resources, may enable France •to recover more speedily than , another country could from the effects of this great national misfortune ; but nothing can make up for the productive forces of the nation. A year or two ago, France was the object almostTof envy. The Universal Exhibition brought to Paris the choicest specimens of the produce and industry of nations. The crowned roonarchs of Europe thronged the Palace of the Tuileries. French institutions were the subject of study everywhere. An ill-omened fate, a sad blunder, has now turned a pictnre of the greatest prosperity into one of fearful desolation. What ' a lesson to all States ! The evening of the 23rd November witnessed in every church throughout the length and breadth of France the closing

ceremonial of .the Triduum. The gravity of present events and the continued-suffer-ing of the people decided the French i bishops to summon a special general council, and the result was a decree that a Triduum, or, in other words, the Exposition of the Real Presence— the moat solemn act of devotion in the Catholic Church— should be celebrated for three consecutive days in every diocese and parish in the kingdom. No matter what the religion of a country may be, there can be nothing more solemn or touching than an entire nation, and that nation in mourning, lifting up its voice in. one mighty supplication, to implore Him tor . the cessation of a cruel and heavy scourge. The response from the country was swift and unanimous, and for three days a whole nation rose up in prayer — just as a whole nation rose in arms. It was the first and most striking proof that individually and collectively they fully realised the unprecedented danger of their position, and that they would neglect no meah3, human or Divine, to avert the awful calamity which is so imminent. In Boulogne itself, and for miles around, the country-people flocked in crowds from every village and hamlet. Even from far-off Portel, the renowned fisherwonien came to their favorite little church on the heights above the port. . A correspondent says :— " For myself, I visited chiefly the old church in the market-place— St. Nicholas— not •that it is by any means as handsome a building as the cathedral, nor on account of any extreme antiquity.; but it is charmingly situated, and has a picturesque appearance that is wanting in the others. The ceremony commenced with a grand High Mass, and then one of the cupf, a man of very distinguished appearance, preached one of the most eloquent ana appropriate sermons I have ever listened to. It produced a great effect, and was the subject of frequent conversation during the day. His history is not without a touch of romance. Belonging to a noble family, he devoted himself to the bar, and when quite young had rapidly attained to eminence in his profession, and was about to be married to a young lady of considerable fortune and belonging to the ancienne noblesse. Suddenly, to the amazement of his friends, he threw up his profession where the highest honors could only be a matter of time, renounced his intended marriage, and enrolled himself in the ranks of the priesthood. He possesses a happy facility of expression, is clear and distinct, and his voice, without being loud, can be easily heard in every corner of the church. All day long and- far into the night services were continued at intervals, and the people kept flocking in crowds from one church to another; so much so, that it gave one the impression of a huge pilgrimage, and for the first time since that fatal Sunday, when the telegram came from Sedan,, the roads were alive with people, so that one might have fancied it was a great fete day, but for the expression on the people's faces. It was the same on all — sad, but with a half-defiant hopefulness that anticipated and would not brook compassion. Some ' had a weary look that was infinitely pitiful to see." From Versailles we learn that in consequence of the correspondence sent by two balloons from Paris, which have been captured, the German comraauder-in-chief has issued a general prohibition to the effect that no person is to be permitted to enter or leave Paris. Five

passengers in the balloons, who were captured, have been brought before a court, martial. A further telegram says : — " Several superior officials of the former . administration of Versailles have been arrested for carrying on secret communi- ! cations with Paris, and for violating the regulations laid down by the German authorities. Some Englishmen who effected a descent in a balloon near Verdun have been captured by the Germans. They give out that they were simply escaping from Paris. A. large sack of letters, which was found in their possession, has been handed over to the German staff for inspection." , The Globe s»ys :— The story of the Due de Grammont's escape from France after the disastrous collapse at Sedan is so full of romance as to make us feel doubtful whether we are really living in the matter-of-fact nineteenth Century. It is, at all events, worthy of being preserved, and we present our readers with the following facts which we have good reason to believe to be perfectly correct :— The Duv de Grammot, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, naturally heard of the Emperor's surrender a day before the news was published in Paris. He saw at once that flight was necessary, as the wrath of the mob was sure to be turned against the Ministry who were respbnsible for the war. He accordingly went to his bankers to provide himself with money and various securities, but was informed that the partner who had charge of his affairs was in the country, whither the Due pursued him. The partner was found engaged in burying his property in his garden, but returned to Paris and delivered np to the Due de Grammont the papers and money which were required. On the next day the bad news was published, and the Minister fled. He sent off a servant in his carriage openly, and escaped himself by a private door. The mob pursued the carriage, but of course found no one in it they wanted, and the Due got safely to Calais, On his 'arrival there, however, a new cause for alarm arose. It was necessary for him to produce his passport before he could leave the country, and it was evident that in this way his identity would be discovered, and he himself, as seemed only too probable, would be arrested and sent back to Paris, never to quit in again. The risk, however, had to be encountered, and he showed his passport to the proper officer, and was, much to his relief, Buffered to go on board, the English steamer without remark. He at once went to the cabin, and, the better to escape notice, pretended to be very ill. In a few minutes, however, he felt an ominous tapjon the shoulper, and looking round expected to find himself a prisoner. He saw only the passport officer, who said to him, "Wheii you were in office you gave my son an appointment. In return for that I have to-day let you pass, and thereby in all probability saved your life." The officer went his way, and the Due de Grammont got safely to Dover. The Daily News correspondent at Tours, who has just returned from Le Mans, writes: — "Certainly the resources of France are enormous, notwithstanding the immense losses she has suffered in men killed and wounded ; notwithstanding one large army taken away captive, another blocked before Metz, and 500,000 men blocked in Paris, the towns and villages appear as full of strong men as before, and besides these armed men are pouring into every town and filling every railway line. The whole of my route was bristling with bayonets. Arms also do not seem scarce, for those who have no Chassepots now appear with Remingtons or Sniders. While waiting for the train back here, before dawn this morning at Angers, enthusiastic battalions ot Mobiles from the sea-coast departments came in, and were taken off in the direction of Le Mans, thence to Rennes. Presently the station is filled again with armed and uniformed crowds. These are men of twenty-five to forty years old ; one can distinguish under the same dress men of all classes and professions ; thesearethe mobilised National Guards of Angers itself. Next to them some seamanlike men appear. These are all the old gunners who nave served- in the navy, and who have been invited to volunteer as gunners for the auxiliary army of the west, with extra pay, &c. The appeal has brought many of these men from the seaboard districts. Each of these different categories of men had its qualities and its defects, no doubt, but any one of them is- better than the line of the present day. The levee en niasse, as far as levees en masse are possible things in this century and in this country, is taking place in the. departments I went through last night. These are the only men France has to rely upon in this her day of agony, for the army is a rotten plank, upon which it is no use reckoning any. longer. The Army of the Loire (Salbris Corps) is coming here, or at any rate, through here. A large infantry . force has arrived to-day, and is going to stay for Borne days, judging by the amount of straw that has been given out for the tents. The troops from Salbris are joining the 16th Corps, and advancing from $ here towards Vendome.