Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1870-09-21
~ " From Harper's Weekly
NapOleOn's Overthrow.

On the fifteenth of last July the French
Emperor, on a frivolous Pretext, declared
war against Prussia. The news awakened
the widest enthusiasm throughout France.
The nation appeared to be crazy for war
With vastly exaggerated ideas of their
own military strength, and fatally under
rating that Of Prussia, they looked forward
to short, sharp, and decisive campaign
on German soil, and to peace. dictated
at Berlin, which should make the Rhine
the eastern boundary of the empire. Of-
6cers. and private soldiers, leaving Paris
for the frontier, ordered that after the 6f-
tenth of August their letters should be
directed to Berlin; and Minister Oliver,
in the French Senate, announced that he
accepted the war e%ith light heart" d.
Not SO did Germany make answer.
,'God is my witness, said King William,
to the crowd assembled to witness his de-
parture from Ems, ssthat L have not de-
sired war; but if / am forced into it, |
will maintain the honor of Germany to
the last man." o7ya ua j ,a1 ha'
His people responded to these words
with a solemn and earnest enthusiasm, to
which a parallel can only be found in the
great uprising of the North after the fir
ing on Sumter. Minor differences and
petty jealousies were forgotten. oo'The
whole nation rose, like a strong man from
sleep; apd, before the Facilitating Emper-
or was prepared to strike a blow, nearly
a million of soldiers stood guard upon the
| We need not recount the marvellous
campaign that followed, unparalleled in the
history Of the world In less than fifty
| DAYS after the declaration of war--and
less than forty of actual fghting-the
military pride of France suffered humilia-
ton in dozen defeats; the capital is
threatened. and in state of siege; one
great army, defeated in long series of
terrible battles, is shut up helpless within
The Notifications Of Metz; another, num-
boring a Kindred thousand men--the larg-
est number tat ever capitulated at one
time-has been surrendered by Its com
mauder; the Prince Imperial and the En-
peror are prisoners! .F,' Hi.| ,
Well may the victorious King exclaim,
in his modest despatch to the Queen
"What a course, under the guidance Of
God. events have taken !" '17'3 p.
II were useless, when great events tread
so rapidly on each others heels, to specu-
late on the probable results of this crown
ing victory Of the Prussian arms, or to
discuss the causes OF the French defeat.
There seems to be no doubt that Napoleon
was the victim of gross frauds and decep.
ton from the first. His immense armies
existed only on paper The military con-
dition of the empire was thoroughly rot
ton. Had the Emperor been earlier
aware Of these facts he would not have
ventured upon the war; but, unfortunate
ly FOR him, he first became ava of them
after war had been declared. He then,
as is well known, endeavored to open ne
gotiations with Prussia, but Count Bis.
marck sternly replied it was too late"
Unable to take the initiative, Napoleon
found himself scarcely prepared to stand
on the defensive, and the terrible blow
that crushed McMahon's army at Weiss
enburg virtually decided the struggle
Yet the soldiers of France never fought
more CALAMITY than at Weissenburg, Gra-
velotte and Sedan. They have incurred
no disgrace in these terrible deieats.-I
They have succumbed to vastly prepond-
Grating numbers, aided BY bad ,generalship
on the part of their commanders in the first
weeks of the war. ~
fall this shall bring peace to Europe
and stable government to France, really
founded on the will Of the nation and not
in fraud, the world will have good reason