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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 54, 4 March 1871, Page 2

'• Is kx not PiiECious?" — Has not the Holy Scripture be?n, and is it not si ill, a precious .to us? Is it not precious, as it 1 reveals a Saviour in whom we c;in find '| forgiveness and redemption from the ter-, rors of the cross? Is it not precious, as it tells us of peace in which, our disquieted souls can rest, and find a tranquil conscience and a smiling God? Is jit not precious, as it leads us to a purity if/ which the ct-imson becomes as wool, and jtho scarlet is made white «s snow? Is it*riot precious, as it sheds its light upon tho darkness of life's sorrows, and breathes its content on the stern realities of life's miseries? Is it not precious, as it gilds with hallowing joy the rugged pathway of eaath, makiug every day a lioly d;a', ami of life ar long communion? Is it nfct precious, Sis it illumines the shadowy vale, transforms the shroud into a robe, gives courage in ? the last conflict, mellows death into a slesp, and makes the grave the^vestibule^f glory? And is it not precious above all, as it conducts to that paradise whose scenes are fairer than the bowers of Eden; and to that home in the mansion of eternity w.b,ere the joy is never alloyed by sorrow, and the holiness never polluted by sin? — Rev. Joseph Dare. Life in Paris. — The following is the translation of a private letter, dated December 5, from a French lady in Paris : — " What a long aud terrible trial this is, and how much I suffer from the want of news of my absent children ! We are nevertheless getting on well, and the chances of success are restoring courage. During two days and two nights this week the cannon did cot cease. It was a sinister and disheartening^ sound, Sleep was impossible. The image of that field of battle is impressed upon me. Every fibre trembles. I mourn' all my loved ones without knowing anything of them. Flow my son, who was at Mefz with Bazaine, must have suffered, if his general was really a traitor ! But you must know better than we what has happened ; for we scarcely dare believe anything, so many falsehoods have been uttered. There is now contentment, because there is hope. But at what a cost shall we obtain the mastery ! How I regret that I did not lay in a supply of provisions. We cau obtain nothing now, even with money. We live almost on soup made from extract of meat. Every four days they give us for five persons, ono pound and a quarter of meat (salt beef or horse). . There is no lack of bread, and that is tho essential ; but this cannot last I^ijta^ People are calm ; the poor are the Ley .tH attended to, and that is right. It must not be supposed that Paris is a pre) r to auarchy, as the foreign papers say. There is a patriotic ardour which is general. Nevertheless, this must not last too long. We live in the midst of emotion and expectancy, and I fear to kuow the truth/* The Prussian Cavalry. — In commenting upon the action of the Prussian cavalry in the latter battles before Orleans, a correspondent says : — "I see that in opposition to the judgment of the best Prussian officers, au opinion has been expressed in certain English journals against the. employment of heavy cavalry. The heavy horse — dragoons, curassiers aud Uhlans — have been most useful, in fact invaluable. Let me here correct a very general error at home. You seem to think that the Uhlau is* a small, light, active man, on a small wiry horse. The horse may be small, but that is from necessity, not from choice. The Uhlan is a large man, armed with a heavy lance, sword, and side arm — larger on the average than the men of the 9th Lancers, as I well remember them in India. It was cavalry — heavy cavalry principally — which saved the 10th Corps when attacked at Beaune la Rolande, and anyone who reads the despatches of the lung and of his generals will see what au importsiut part the cavalry have played and do play in this campaign. But the French papers

hcgiin by r:\Uing all Prussian horse Uhlans ; Iho English public believe that Uhlans wore light lio'se, aid as the heavies wen* r.uviy or never mentioned, the idea, which ought to be withstood, lias gained ground.