Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1855-03-16


ton of affairs.
All this comes from the second of
December. We, exiles, whose
hearts bleed with all the wounds
of our country, aud with all the
sorrows Of humanity, we consider
this lamcn,ablc state Of things with
ever-lncreasing anguish.
Let us insist upon IT, repeat il,
cry it aloud let it be known, and
never forgotten henceforward. |
have just shown it, with incontro-
vertible proofs in my hand, and his
tory will say it; and | defy any one
whoever he may be to deny it--all
this comes from the second Of De-
cember
Take away intrigue, the social
led affair Of the Holy Places take
away the key; take away the de-
sire of being consecrated ; take a
way the present to be made to the
Pope take away the second of
December; take away NJ. Bona
parte: you have 40 Eastern war.
Yes. these fleets. the most mag
nficcut in the world, are reduced
and Inundated yes, this noble
English cavalry is eXlerminated
yes, the Scotch Gfeys, those noun
tain lions, our Iouavrs, our Spahis,
our Vincennes infantry, our incom-
parable African regiments are sa-
bred, cut up, destroyed yes, those
innocent people-whose brothers
we are, for tons there are no foreign
ers-are destroyed ; yes, among so
many others, the old General Cath
cart and the Young Captain Nolan
the honor of the English uniform
are sacrificed yes, bowels and
brains, torn and scattered by grape
shot, hang on the brushwood at Bal
aklava, or are crushed before the
walls Of Sevaslopol yes, at night,
bowls like those of wild beasts
come from the battle fields, filled
with dying men; yes, the moon
shines on that terrible charuel-housc
Of lnkermann, where women, lam
tern in hand, wander here and there
among the dead, seeking their broth
ers and their husbands, just as other
women, three years ago, on the night
Of the fourth Of December, exam
med one after the other the corpses
of the Boulevard Montmaire yes,
these calamities cover Europe--this
blood, all this blood, flows in the
Crimea yes, these widows weep,
these mothers wiring their hands, be-
cause NJ. Bonaparte, that assassin of
Paris, took a fancy to be blessed and
consecrated by NJ. Mastae, the stran-
gler Of Rome
And now let NJ mediate a mo-
ment-it Is worth our while.
Truly, if among the intrepid
French regiments who, side by side
with the valiant English army,
fight before SevastopoI against the
whole Russian force, If, among
the heroic combatants, there may
be some of those sad soldiers who,
in December, 1851, led on by infa-
nous generals, obeycd the sorrow
lul orders for the ambuscade, our
tears flow from our eyes, our old
French hearts are deeply moved for
these sons of peasants, these sons Of
laborers. We cry, mercy we say,
they were drunk they were blind
they were ignorant; they knew not
what they did and we raise our
hands to heaven, and we pray for
these unfortunate men. The sol
der is a child enthusiasm makes a
hero of him passive obedience
may make bandit of him. A he
ro-olhers rob him of his glory
a bandit-let others take his fault.
Yes, before the mysterious chastise-
ment which is commencing, q, my
God grant pardon to the soldiers
but with the chiefs, do what thou
wilt
Yes, exiles, lie, us judge, and
look The Eastern war; speak
of it again-is the second of De-
cember, which has come, step by
step, from Transformation to trans
formation, to It's logical result, The
conhagration of all Europe Oh,
bewildering depth of expiation =
The second of December falls back
upon itself, and after having slain
onro, olays his own. Three years
ago, it was called coup d. efat, and
/ it assassinated Baudlu; now, it is
called the Eastern war, and it exc
cutes Saint Armand. The ball
which, on the night Of the fourth,
under the order of Lournel, killed
Dussoubs before the barricade Mon
torguil, rebounds in the darkness,
according to some inexplicable and
formidable law, and kills Lournel
( in the Crimea. We have nothing
to do with that. II is the fatal
,hunder-bolt the blow Of a spirit
God himself. Justice is a theo-
rem punishment is exact as Eu-
cid crime has its angles of mel
ldence and its angles of reflection
and we men, we tremblc when we
perceive in the obscurity of human
destiny the lines and figures Of that
enormous geometry which the
crowd call chance, and the think
ing man calls Providence.
The curious thing-let MS say it
while passing--is, that the key is
nseless. The Pone. seeing Austria