The New York herald., 1870-12-17

Horrors OF War and the Giories Of Re-
Iiaion.
The unhappy Frenchmen who are held away
from home as prisoners of war by the Germans
have q sad, melancholy, almost blank prospect
before them for Christmas Light hearted,
Joyous, and to very great extent fervently rel-
gious, both by nature and from tho early train
ing of their village pastors, those unhappy vic
tins of the passion of the Zone man. ambition
will feel their lot most acutely. Exiled from their
simple homes and firesides the, dawn Of even
that glorious morning will fail to bring comfort
to their mortal misery. They will experience
the consequences Of q national desolation;
think only Of their ruined homes, their two
mans parting cry" and the never-to-be-for-
gotten prattle Of their children. The Christ
mas will be gloomy one for them, both in
the prison and the hospital. Many of the un-
fortunate brave will, we fear, not live to see it.
Disease has been added to personal distress
among them. high medical authority of
Great Britain assures us that the military prison
hospitals Of Germany are assuming the appear
ance and putting on rapidly the sickening reali-
ties of lazarettos. There are one hundred and
fifty thousand Frenchmen in these hospitals.
A majority of them suffer from wounds; many
others are i'll of the various diseases
which are consequent on privation after
campaign. The almoner of the French pri-
soners in Ulm writes that in that place there
were, just lately, one thousand sick and
wounded, and that the means of aiding them
were absolutely wanting. Typhus fever makes
great devastation among these unhappy
Frenchmen the average number of deaths is
ten daily. At Minden there were FIVE hun
dred prisoners i'll with dysentery, typhus and
smallpox, and the number is daily increasing.
There is the greatest difficulty in relieving
them, even in obtaining what is strictly
necessary, for there is want of everything,
especially linen. Scarcely ono Of the fever
patients located in eight halls and barracks
had a shirt to change. OF clean linen, warm
clothes, woollen jackets, stockings, drawers,
none are to be had. The Basle charitable
agency received similar distressing reports
from Marienberg, Coblentz and other places,
''on the truly terrible destitution which pre-
walls among the prisoners" ...-.-str..-.
Such are the more immediate results Of
unjustifable war. Such the terrible effects
which accrue to society at large from the
national mistake made by section of the uni
versal brotherhood in confding the dread
power of war-making to the hands of one man.
1t is matter of great consolation to Chris
tianity to know that these poor and sick
French prisoners are in the hands of a
gallant, religious and Christmas loving
race; that they are held by practical, home
Joyous Germans. Good old Santa Claus will
be invoked in their behalf at the firesides of
Fatherland on Christmas Eve, and the devoted
mothers of Germany, as they return from
their church prisons Of Christmas Day
dawn and proceed to light up the Christmas
tree for their own happy little ones, will not
fail to think kindly Of and put away some
little gift Of comfort for the sick and wounded
and dying sons of the matrons of France.
The man who was wounded and left to die by
the roadside was relieved by the good Samari-
tan after both the priest and Levite had
passed him by.