THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 214, 10 September 1870, Page 2

THE WEEK.

All matters of mere colonial interest, whether Provincial or General, have faded into utter insignificance before the news received by telegraph yesterday — news that is rendered all the more startling by the suddenness with which it has burst upon us. On the 12th of last month we learned that some slight uneasiness waa felt with regard to the relations between France and Prussia owing to the action taken by the latter in tbe matter of the vacant throne of Spain, but any fears we might have felt as to the results were dispelled by the latest intelligence received by the Suez mail of that month to the effect that the dispute had been settled. On the 9th of the current month we were astonished by the tidings that war had beeu declared between these two powers — two of the most formidable on the continent — that 300,000 Prussians had, in the short time that had elapsed between the despatch of the last and of the present telegrams, been concentrated at one spot, and that two or more battles had been fought, success, according to the latest intelligence resting with the German army. On the 18th of July, 1 870, the Prussian army made its entry into French territory, this being the first time for centuries when the German nation has mustered her warriors under one common flag to do batttle with a foreign foe. It was the policy of the first Napoleon to disunite the Germauic powers, and dealing with them in fractional parts, to bend them beneath his iron rule, but the present Emperor of the French has a wary foe to deal with in the person of Bismarck, who, having for years been alive to the fact that unity is strength, has taught the German nation that a great practical moral is to be deduced from the fable of the bundle of sticks, and is now prepared, to present to the armies of France such a determined front as has never yet been opposed to them in their dealings with the Germanic nation. The tidings that will be conveyed to us by the next mail, will be looked forward to with the most intense anxiety, as we must be prepared to receive intelligence of the bloodiest battles having being fought that the world has ever yet known. In these days when weapons of destruction have been brought to such deadly perfection, the carnage on a field of battle must prove something awful to contemplate ; already we are told that " the new French cannon, the mitrailleur (a revolving gun), was very murderous," and in reading this particular paragraph j I could not but call to mind an article of the Saturday Review's on the battle fought between the Austrians and French at Solferino, in which it was asked almost despondingly, " Of what avail is the most determined pluck when deadly weapons) are mowing down the advancing forces in hundreds from a distance of two miles." Human nature is selfish, and, therefore, while I caunot think without a shudder of the fearful scenes of bloodshed that will be enacted whenever these two magnificent armies come into contact, I ara unable to divert my thoughts altogether from the bearing that this outbreak will have upon our colonial politics. With the rise in the value of money must come to an end, for some time at least, all the grand schemes that have been occupying the attention of our legislature during the session just ending, as it will be quite impossible to negociate a loan while Europe is in a blaze of war. Let us earnestly hope that England may not be drawn into the vortex, and that the seas may be left open to our ships to carry on the trade on which the prosperity of the Australian colonies is entirely dependent. On local subjects I have but little to say. Two lectures have been delivered during the week, the one by the Bishop of Nelson, in aid of the Christ Church Organ Fund, when the largest audience ever seen in Nelson, was present, and the other by the Rev. F. C. Simmonds, who, at the request of the artizans of Nelson — who have been the means of providing us with many pleasant entertainments — read an excellent essay last night on the interesting subject of "Race and Language." The "Caledonians" have been making a stir in the right direction and, at a meeting held a few days ago, adopted their rules, and altogether placed their infant society on a sound and substantial footing. This, I think, brings my weekly journal to an end. F.