The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-10-22 00:00:00

THE WOUNDED OF SEDAN.

The following letter has been published In The Times :
Wishing to give the utmost publicity to the eevotEd.
news of the city of Sedan to the French wounded, we
beg that you will in: or; this letter in your columns,
and be good enough to communicate it to other news.
papers. Among all the towns of France which have
suffered from this unfortunate war, few have under-
gone a more severe trial than this unfortunate city.
The battle of the let of September carried fire and
sword into all the surrounding country. A number of
the inhabitants lost their lives, their houses were burnt,
their gardens destroyed, and the cloth manufacture,
on which their prosperity depended, was entirely
stopped. The 300,000 to 400,000 men, Prussians awl
French, who lived in the city for some days, used
up the last resources of the inhabitants, so that they
are now compelled to apply to the Belgian people for
the bread necessary to existence. All the inhabitants
have remained however, at their poet of honour, in
spite of so much distress, and notwithstanding the
' mortal anguish caused to them daily by the Pruseian
garrison, which crushes them by requisitions of every
kind, and which has taken from them every horse and
carriage, and caused them an expense already nearly
amounting to 500,0001. In this general destitution the
only thought of the people of Sedan has been to take care
of the wounded. Furgetting their own sufferings to
alleviate ours, they have devoted what life yet re-
mained to them to that work of beneficence with •
devotedness which ia above all praise. Non-military
ambulane shave been improvised in every quarter, and
have quickly collected the wounded, who were at first
scattered ill the ambetanres mlantts in the environs of
the town. That of the officers, in which, after a
series of discharges (600 or 700 French and German
wounded) there are still 30 persons, has been organised
with remarkable intelligence in the large house of M.
Juke Varinet by his aid, and that of Mr. Talot, of the
Municipal Council, who has devoted himself to our
assistance. Mr. Varinet has given up for our use two
of his houses, and has shown unbounded generosity.
We receive in his house the fatherly care of Dr.
Prnasse, a retired physician, living at Sedan. His
assiduity, ija no degree diminished by age, has been in-
cessant. He spends almost the whole day at the side
of our beds. The Sisters of Charity are here admirable
as they are everywhere. Several ladies cl the town
have joined them, and have not feared to venture into
the dangerous atmosphere of our rooms. There is one
above all whose name is engraven in our heart., but
must not be mentioned by us out of reepect for her
modesty. All, in short, in the town have contributed
to alleviate our miefortunea, and to render our sujourn
less painful in this unhappy place, where such sad
recollections weigh so heavily upon all of us. All
Sedan has won its place in the field of honour. It
deserves a statue to be erected to it, with this in-
scription :--"Devotedness, Disinterestedness, Charity."
We express an earnest hope that in happier days it may
be largely indemnified for the heavy sacrifices it has
had to undergo. Now we can only give the °bolus of
gratitude, and this, all the French wounded have
already bestowed. Accept,

L 1,0 Pi F.PA IT, Staff Captlain ; A. GoURY, Cantata of Marines ;
NIRET, Captain of NI Wins. ; BARREAD, Lieutenant of the
11-h of the Line; VAILLon, Captain of the lit Z mese. :
DtnrEsNon, Soue-otlizer ; S. PIC tionfrotT, Lieutenant of
the 4th Chaeseure d'Afrigne BERTRAND, Sous- Lieutenant
In the 17,1 of the Line; Bataan', Lieutenant of lit Cuir-
assiers ; C. Pala:lit. Captalu of the 72i0l Infantry; A.
JACQUER, Sou. Lieutenant of the 79th of the Line; C.
Fat MI DE Va !MU I: X, Captain of the 19th of the Ike;
Tnomat-Ste, Lieutenant of the lit Human; JACQUERER,
Sous-Lleuteuant of the 14th of the Line; 110u21e0,
lieutenant of Marines.
Sedan, Sept, 21.