NOTES BY COLONUS.

Bruce Herald, Volume VI, Issue 362, 5 April 1871, Page 3

NOTES BY COLONUS.

THE CAPITULATION OP PARIS. And so the game is up at last, and after; &. hard and plucky resistance, Paris, and . probably the entire French; nation, have, knocked under, having; been conquered rather through bad generalship at the commencement of the war than through any other cause. So it seems likely, will, end a war that has been a shame and disgrace to civilisation, humanity, and Christianity. A more motiveless war could, hardly have been. It would be- difficult to find even a shadow of an excuse for it. There have been wars of late years, ot which there has been some good result. The great American War washed out in the blood of white men that foul black blot of slavery, which had so long defiled the page of modern history. Again, the result of the French, Italian and Austrian war was to free a brave narion from the tyrant and oppressor. There has been no more motive for this last fight, between the French and Prussians, than there is usually a motive for the fighting of two barn door fowls. The fact is, these two nations have long been preparing for a fight, and when they were ready they concluded to have a set- too. Just in this way we may observe two game-cocks going to work. They have been well ied f crammed with corn, their combs have been cut, and their tails clipped — perhaps steel spurs have been attached to their heels. They are all ready for a cut-in. Observe them ruffle up their feathers, and approach each other pecking at the ground, as much as to say — " Oh dear! can't we find a little bit of food as an excuse for a fight ?' Now take half-a-dozen grains of corn, and throw it between them. That'l do — that's enough ; there's a cwmts belli, there's a fiood cause for war ; — so up go their neck feathers, and at it they go with beak and claw. The poor French cock has got the worst of ie this time, and nearly got his eyes pecked out. Little more motive than these two towls, have the French and Prussians had for going to war. The ostensible cause of the war was some slight misunderstanding about the succession to the Spanish throne, and a little unpoliteness to the French Ambassador ; these were the grains of corn. The real cause of the war, was that pugnacity and ! love of fighting which is ooinmon toman and the lower animals. The fighting of a couple of dogs is not usually a very serious matter ; but when two of the most powerful nations in the world employ all the ingenuity and power of human intellect in the work nf slaughtering each other as speedily as possible, steeping themselves in human blood, and bringing upon each other horrible suffering and want and misery, and all without a cause or a motive, it is simply abominable ; a shame and a scandal to human nature and this age. As there was no motive for the war, so there is likely to be no good result from ir. Perhaps the future peace of Europe is more likely to be endangered than established in conspquence of it. It will, however, be probably some time before ! France so far recovers as to bo in a posi- \ tion to prosecute her revenge, if she shall ever be in a mind to do so Lotus hope, for the suko of the world's peace, she may nevpr be in such a mind. If this has been a wicked and shameful war, what shall we say of the conduct of those men who have been entrusted by Providence with the care and welfare of nations ? These men are God's stewards, i Have they behaved as such 1 Nations are j often ready enough ro fight, thoughtless of' j all the misery they bring on themselves, by the loss of the strongest and bravest of j their people, and the saddling themselves with national debt. It is the duty of their rulers to control this national pugnacity, and preserve peace and good will among men as much as possible. Instead of so | acting, those men have taken advantage of j their exulted position to hurl their nations into war, as men set cocks and dogs to ! fighr. And, talking of instigators to war, j ! what do some of the newspapers at home j imean by having advised that England should hav6 joined in, by giving the ! French a hnnd ? Wh} r , in the name of all that is onable and sensible, shou'd Enghnc 5 have thrust her finger into the bloody pie? One consequence of England's joining in, would probably have been to -set the whole civilised world in a Waz*ofwar. We should then, indeed, have had a devil's datice on the face ot the earth. The British people are pugnacious enough, and only want to be roused a little to join in with the greatest a'acrity. They seem to have been grumbling 1 at Gladstone for trying to keep out ot the mess. It is well for them and us we had a man like Gladstone at the helm ; a man of sense and judgment, and enlightenment. Perhaps a war would not much hurt the editors of these papers which advised England to go in. Probably some extra taxation would not prevent these men filling their bellies with good food, and enjoying their little luxuries as well ; but such extra taxation would be felt by, and press heavl/ on, the poorer classes. England at present groans under an enormous amount of debt, almost all incurred for wars, and though she prospers in spite of that load, she would probably get along much better without it. Every year the population of Great Britain have to pay -so much out of their pockets for former wars. Would it not have been madness to rush into this war and incur an indefinite amount — perhaps an enormous amount — of debt ? And why should England have helped France ? If eitl er of the two nations, France or Prussia, was more blameable for the war than the other, it was France.