THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 825, 20 March 1871, Page 2

THE WAR IN EUROPE.

NOTES AND INCIDENTS.

Reflect for a moment on the fact that in only three German districts, those of Westphalia, Rhenish-Prussia, and Hanover, there are thirty-six thousand widows, and ninety thousand orphans, made such by the war. That is but a trifle of the total suffering. The destruction of life is far greater than that implies ; and the waste of property, the desolation and desficent nature has been more than liberal in her gifts, are so vast that computation fails to convey an idea of the mere money losses, while the blood, the honor, and the misery, in the overrun country, as well as in that of its conquerors, form a total to make humanity weep. Having given the moment, to reflection, the impulse is to rise, and with flashing eye and throbbisg heart to titter deep and bitter curses on the foul ambition of statecraft which produces such vast evils, and such profound woe to millions of innocent men and women, victims of a few .scores of fellow mor f als who at a word may pour out rivers of human blood.

The most recent Paris papers inform us of some facts connected with the internal condition of the city, which are not without interest. It is stated that one of the generals in command upon the western side of Paris has adopted the stern measure of shooting three women of loose character who had been detected in furnishing information to the enemy. The course of lectures at the University of Paris is about to commence, and while the Germans are devastating the French territory, young Frenchmen are studying at the Sorbonne the great productions of German literature, and sounding the praises of the illustrious Goethe. The number of deaths from small-pox which had arisen to an appalling figure is reported to have declined to less than 400 in the week before last. The general mortality

of (MS city also had diminished: The scarcity of paper caused by the siege, although it seriously affects the size of journals and the material upon which they print, has not prevented the appearance of newspapers, some of which have a very ephemeral existence indeed. The Garde Nationale, the Drapeau Rouge, and the Favbouricn have lived and died since the investment of the city. The Moniteur des Citoyennes, a weekly publication, made but a single appearance. The Garibaldi published two numbers. Another new paper, with the symbolical title of the Sion Blesse, has made but occasional appearances. The most singular novelty is a paper called the Trac, which i 3 recommended for perusal in the cellars and underground apartments in the event of a bombardment. In order to provide for all eventualities the authorities in Paris are adopting measures upon a large scale for the grinding of corn and flour. A contract for the fixing of 200 pairs of miJlstones has been effected with the wellknown firm of Cail and Co., and one-half of that number are already in operation, ltia noticed as a singular circumstance that just at the moment when reports faroraWe to the French arms were circulating In the capital, many commodities which had been supposed to be non-existent, made their reappearance in the shop windows, such as butter, sardines, Bologna sausages, &c. Even ham, at 5s a pound was offered in the Rue Neuve de Capucines ; but a few hours later all those tempting delicacies had disappeared, and the shopkeepers vowed that they had not possessed auy since a few days after the commencement of the siege. The glory and confusion of the first few hours in Orleans it is difficult to depict ; the rattle of the artillery trains, the roll of drums, the jingle of the trotting cavalry, the shouts of officers, the tramp of battalions, the hopeless "jams" of the baggage trains, the squads of prisoners arriving from different directions, the cowering stray civilians crushed by this din of war, the weeping women, all combined to form a picture full of intense and striking contrast. During the whole of yesterday the streets presented this aspect. To-day there is a slight change, the shops are slowly beginning to take down there shutters in obedience to an order they, have received to that effect, and are consequently invaded by the soldiery, who have many necessities of clothing with which to supply themselves. To judge from the high prices and the enormous custom, the vendors of the articles of attire most in demand must be doing a thriving business. In a few hours every article of flannel underclothing in the town was purchased ; gloves are no longer to be Jhad ; maps of this and the adjoining departments are long since exhausted ; and officers and men with bundles under their arms ate to be met in every direction. Stationers' and haberdashers' shops are decidedly the most popular ; the butchers, bakers, and tobacconists at once fell under martial law, and their contents were appropriated by the Intendance, according to the usual regulations. This afternoon a few more of the inhabitants appear in the streets, but they all look as if they were going to a funeral, and the upper windows of the houses are all shut. The most remarkable scene, however, is thatwhich theinterior of this grand old cathedral presents. I wonder if Bishop Dupanloup has visited it since it has been turned into a prison. As many thousand men as could possibly be crammed into it passed the night there, and when I visited it this morning several hundreds were still there. Inside the rails of the fagade the soldiers had made a camping ground, and it was a mass of filth, in the midst of which, grouped round fires, were bodies of prisoners. On entering, the smoke from these fires made inside was so dense that I could scarcely see a dozen yards. All the chairs had been appropriated either to make fires with or to sit upon round them, and the din of voices, the crackle of burning wood, tho blinding smoke, the songs of the light-hearted Zouaves, and loud voices of the Germans, all intermingled, produced a strange effect. But when in the midst of this unholy din the solemn strains of the organ pealed through the church, and the bright rays of the setting sun streaming through its gorgeous windows lit up the wild, uncouth groups that were smoking and singing and cooking round their fires, and for a moment shot rays across the aisle which seemed to penetrate the dense smoke and flood it with a divine light, Bacrilege seemed to have attained its climax. But it had not quite done so. Breaking Bhort off from the solemn march which had for a second arrested the attention of even the reckless spirits who were now congregated here, the organ suddenly burst into an attempt at a jig — it seemed to have gone mad — under the impression of a musical Zouave. It launched forth into the wildest strains. Hanging eagerly over the musician, who was really an accomplished artist, and made the organ perform wonderfully comic feats, was a delighted group of Turcos jabbering to each other in Arabic, and evidently highly pleased with the performance. Stimulated by their applause the Zouave made frantic efforts ; the crowd, which had rapidly collected, called loudly to invisible companions behind the organ for more wind, and the fun was waxing fast and furious when, looking round, I saw a priest in tears. Standing near him were two ladies in black giving bread to the hungry crowd ; the steps of the altar had been so desecrated that it was impossible to approach it ; and a few lively spirits having thrown some cartridges into the fire, the smoke produced became so great that we were all obliged to rush to the doors to get a whiff of fresh air, and I was not sorry to be driven from a scene which, fascinated while it revolted, and which was another of the absurd reductions to which devout men who worship at once the God of Love and the God of Battles are driven, It had never occurred to me till I left the church that, owing to the exigencies of war, I had forgotten to uncover my head.

The first idea as to Paris was that it would surrender when it was surrounded j the second, that it would yield after a Bhort term of privation ; the third, that it would succumb when a few shells had fallen into it. Then it was resolved to try starvation, pure and simple, and various periods were arbitrarily selected — four, six, eight, or ten weeks— as the time during which the city might hold out. The councils of the German chiefs geem to have been undecided as to the bombardment. At an early period of the investment I have no doubt the measure was in contemplation. Seige trains were

formed, the heavy guns from Strasburg hurried up and parks established, gabions and fascines stored, and magazines formed

Then two sorts of fire were opened against the project— one from the forts of Paris, developing immense artillery power and rendering the establishment of a superiority of fire at least questionable, the other from moral batteries, which caused various influential persons to view the proposed bombardment with disfavor. To the hearts of some the voice of humanity spoke, with others the good opinion of Europe had its weight. Others alleged philanthrophic, social, moral, and aesthetic reasons, while they really disliked not the bombardment, but its possible failure. Among those who were accused of prolonging the anxieties of Germany and the sufferings, or, at any rate, the endurance, of the army, was Count Bismarck. It was said in Germany that he opposed the bombardment. The Imperial Chancellor denied the soft impeachment. His counsel is not sought in the Military Cabinet, and the military members of it are alone responsible for the attitude of the armies and the measures adopted by them. 1 Count Bismarck does not incur any cen--1 sure which may he directed againat their operations in the field or out of it. The phases of feeling which I have indicated have mostly been patent enough, and the last resolve of the leaders of the army seemed to be that Paris should be starved out without a gun being fired against it. I think there are evidences of a change in favor of a more actively aggressive policy. It may be the influence of popular feeling which is growing impatient. It may be the desire to show the members of the Reichstag that preparations are in hand to quicken the appreciation of hunger on the part of the city. The guns which hrve been parked will, I think, be put in position in a short time. They will, at all events, contribute greatly to strengthen the Prussian front, and bring a powerful fire au any outfall from Paris. As to the effects of a bombardment proper, 1 have already expaessed an opinion quantum valeat—l mean, of course, physical effects — for the moral results on the population are beyond conjecture. The investing armies, then, will hold on round Paris to to the end, and never depart until they are forced to raise the siege or see the city in their power.