The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-21 00:00:00

THE HORRORS OF BOMBARDMENT.

The Telegraph, in commenting on the 'present position
of the siege, and hopelessness of the French resistance,
says : —Fatigued, annoyed, and exasperate 1 by this pro.
longed and obstinate refusal to surrender, the Prussians
have resorted to their last argument—that of bombshells
—and much sooner than was expected, in a bombard-
ment which ostensibly was to be confined to the
outer defences, shells from the German batteries have
been thrown into the most densely-populated districts of
the French metropolis. This work has now been going
on for a whole fortnight, and, in all probability, will
rather increase than diminish in severity. It
is shocking—it is revolting—to learn that such
historical edifices as Notre Dame, the Sorbonne, the
Pantheon, and the Invalides, have been stricken, or
are in danger of being' stricken, by projectiles ;
but it is absolutely horrible and appalling. to • hear that
on the average fifteen guiltless civilians, many of them
women and children, have been slain every day by the
explosion of shells in the houses or in the streets. What
have these poor people done? They never hankered
for the German Rhine ; they never thirsted for
Luxemburg; they were never rude to German
Majesty in the Kurgarteu at Ems ; they never
crossed Bismarck's path, or disparaged.Moltke's strategy.
We prate about the hideous rites of Moloch, the canni-
balism of the South Sea Islanders, the frightful human
sacrifices of Mexico, as having been swept away by
Christianity and civilisation ; but here, within a stone's
throw, so to speak, of our shores, within trumpet hail, as
it were, of this happy island, there is going on every
day a human sacrifice as dreadful and dismal
as ally which the history of war can furnish.
Can Anglicans or Catholics, can Quakers, or
Jews, or Mahoineta,ns all over the world, although the
hands of their rulers may be tied, do nothing to implore
that this awful tragedy should cease? Let it he that there
is a God of Battles. Let it be that " Slaughter is God's
daughter ;" that war is an inevitable necessity, and that
soldiers must do their duty. Let it be that Paris has
brought bombardment on herself by fortifying her con-
fines and trenching herself about. But for the sake of
our common humanity, this day of wrath and cruelty
ought not to elapse without some effort by force of national
protest that would direct the unfailing consideration of
the German Emperor towards the sufferings of the help-
less and the innocent.

THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY'S CORONATION.

The Standard remarks :—lt has been settled by German
politicians that King 'William I. of Prussia is to be
crowned Emperor 'William I. of Germany. But where?
That, we are told, is the universal question
from north to south, from east to west, of the
all-conquering Fatherland. It might more wisely be
asked—when ? The writers who affect to find in
the history of the old Sovereign's exaltation the
materials of an Arthurian romance, giving heroism
and poetry to his character, and prophecies of glory to
his son, are, it seems, discounting the future. It will be
time enough when France has fallen, for Germany to rise
above Europe, with her cluster of crowns, and her double-
handed sword, as representative of the ancient Power
which was drowned in kindred and conflicting blood.
To all who are not blinded by the successes
of a moment, it must appear that the forth-
coming coronation of the First William, or his
son, must be at best but a phantom pageant.
Gorgeous and splendid no doubt it will be—should it ever
take place—and some antique halls of the Teuton land
will witness a blazon mediaeval in its exuberance and
pride. Yet, when we overlook, taking errors into
account, the claims put forward for the new Emperor's
choice of the city in which he will assum the
purple, they astonish us by their contrarieties.
These assert a right, because their nobles and
burghers enthroned former 'Monarohs ; those, be-
cause they buried them. And it is not a little remark!,
able that Berlin, the capital of Victory, urges no pretence
whatever. There are five suppliants. One—Worms—has
made William I. a citizen before adorning him with the
gem of Empire—a compliment which, probably, he will
appreciate at its full worth. Another—Frankfort—has
rather indiscreetly hinted at certain concessions that might
be acceptable. The chance of Frankfort has been, we
should say, on this account, somewhat impaired. Still
the metropolis of the old constitution can scarcely have
its free and Imperial history treated with utter contempt.
There is one other city grey with age which was expected
to raise a claim. Spires, rerrited to have been the
winter quarters of Julius Caesar in Germany,
the source of the apellation " Protestant," the
scene ofnearly forty Diets, and the residence of many
a Germanic Emperor. Singular to say, Berlin, although
she has registered a claim, has been less noisy, and less
peremptory, than any of her rivals. Her assumption is,
however, as a matter of course, that she is still to retain
her rank as the capital of the Emperor's, or the King's,
or the Emperor-King's dominions ; and why should a
Sovereign be crowned anywhere except in his own
metropolis ? The question is nothing to us ;
but it is agitating not a few millions of
minds in Europe, which, we feel inclined to say, may,
after all, be reckoning upon a little more German glorifi-
cation than may be gained by the war. Whichever city
wins the choice, and magnifies itself by placing " the
likeness of an Imperial crown " on the brows of William
1., or his son, will the promoted Monarch be expected to
mope amid the spectral relics of Nuremburg or Worms,
or, renouncing them after a visit of courtesy, to re-
establish his state in Berlin, thenceforth to the chief city
of Germany?