THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 260, 5 November 1870, Page 2

THE WEEK.

With war the all-absorbing topic of conversation, and the all-engrossing subject of one's thoughts, I confess that I should sit down to place on record the events of the week with no little diffidence, did I believe that I was bound to confine myself to occurrences of merely local interest, but feeling as I do- that in all probability the majority of your readers are, in common with myself, completely wrapped up in what is taking place on the European, continent, I caunot say that I consider myself restricted in my weekly chat from touching upon those matters which at the present moment must be of paramount interest to all men of a thoughtful turn of mind. lam free ? to confess that, although a resident in this far-away corner of the globe, my thoughts [ will, in spite of myself, wander off to ; Paris and its environs, and that I caunot , help speculating upon, and wondering what ' events have taken place in that beleaguered city. Imagine, if you cau, the vast change that three months have wrought in that centre of gaiety. Deprived of all its ■ innumerable attractions ; with its theatres, operas, and all places of amusements closed ; its pleasure-seeking people — those of them at least who are left within its walls — in a state of siege, and reduced to the barest necessities of life ; with its inhabitants not knowing when the fire of the enemy's guvs is to open upon their devoted heads ; — in addition to this, picture to yourself the incessant state of alarm that must predominate in the minds of those who are hopelessly endeavoring to hold their own against a foreign foe, lest the rabble withiu the walls should prove a more dangerous enemy than the hostile hosts of Germany outside their fortifications — think of all these accumulated horrors, I say, and then ask yourself whether yon can calmly settle down and give your mind to such smaller events as are taking place, or are likely to occur, in this secluded portion of the planet on which we live. But, dreadful as is the state of things in the capital of France, and full of care and trouble as must be the minds of those upon whom devolves the defence of that fair city, there is yet another man — far away as he is from this scene of turmoil aud misery — whose feelings must be unenviable to a degree, aud with whom I, for o&e, would not change places for all the wealth this world could bestow. Thiuk of Napoleon in captivity, brooding over his sorrows, and realizing to himself the frightful carnage, the ruiD, and the utter misery which her in h ; s blindness, has brought upon his once loyal subjects. Picture to yourself this man — but lately a potent sovereign to whom all men beut the knee — a prisoner, utterly powerless to check the dire engines of war that be has set in motion, while at the same time he is constantly in receipt of tidings of his troops defeated, his countrymen ruined, and the gay city in which he once reigned supreme reduced to such a state of misery as, a fesv months ago, would have driven him almost mad to contemplate. And all his own doiug ! With the blood of the countless thousands who have been slain in battle since Louis Napoleon took upon himself the fearful resposibility of declaring war against Germany, upon his head, who shall wonder if the sufferings of this wretched captive are almost greater than he cau bear ? A few days since I happened to take up Friends in Council, a book with which I daresay many of your readers are acquainted, and there I found a passage which seems to me so thoroughly applicable to Napoleon the fallen that I may be pardoned if I quote it in extenso. It runs thus . — " The boldest man, if he have any wisdom corresponding with his boldness, must pause and ponder before he undertakes an enterprise which all history has pronounced to be so dubious in its issues as war. I put aside the ugly questions which such a man should ask himself, whether the result, if gaiued, can compensate for the enormous amount of human suffering which it must demand, >nd whether he, the main promoter of the war, is in the eyes of God or man justified in incurring ; the awful hazard of producing calamities i of which, in this world, he has often, » personally, to endure so small a share, i Taking all these things into consideration, ; it may well be doubted whether any con- • queror or warlike statesman, or military niouarch, has ever done his conscientious i scruples sufficient justice before he has 1 come to the dread resolve of commencing a war, the burden of which commence-

meut is to be upon his soul for ever. Better be the maimed soldier, the ruined peasant, the bayoneted child, the dishonored mother — Better endure the whole misery of ft disastrous campaign, collected aud heaped upon one person, if such a thing could be — than have the fatal responsibility which lies upon that man who, iv wautonuess or selfishness, or even from reckless miscalculation, has been the main promoter of a war that might have been avoided." But I must drop the moralist, and once

more become the journalist although I have but little io tell. has had another gas meeting, which was characterised by a fierce family quarrel between an uncle aud nephew — victory, after some pretty sparriug on both sioUs, ultimately resting on the aide of the elder relation, who, for the time being at least, was certaiuly the popular favorite. The decision arrived at by the former meeting was reversed, and the ratepayers expressed their wish that the Government should borrow money to light the town with gas. This last week has been a fortunate oue for our local industries, Mr. Webley having received a further order from the General Government for 1000 yards of his cloth which has now become so jnstly celebrated through New Zealand, and Mr. Moutray oi Bridge-Street Foundry having received instructions from the i)oran Company to construct a battery with which they may at once commence work at Wangapeka. This will be the first battery made in Nelson, and I trust that both the crusher and the crushed will prove sufficiency satisfactory to show that we have within our province gold in abundance, and appliances fitted to extract it from the stone where now it lies hidden. In this hopeful spirit I shall bring my journal of the week to a close. F.