The New York herald., 1870-10-07

ladies who believe devouty In the newspapers and
who cherish o conviction that there are Turcos who
would dine comfortably on roast Prussian, and
Others who required detachment Of soldiers with
loaded rides to keep order In the hospitals where
they were lying wounded. However, the poor fe-
lows seem to have been humanely treated In Germa
ny; and 1t Is only in France that there are sad
accounts Of Prussian Ill usage Of prisoners. NO
doubt the demoraizing effect OF the late savage
scenes must be felt in most deplorable manner by
those who have gone through them; Tor war IS
true Circe, Transforming men into Drutes, ana tne
horror OF the transformation increased by the fact
that the greater brutes men become the greater
brutes they become Think it over and you VIII see
the philosophy OF this. Oh, for peace
Meanwhile we. among the "braves Beges," are
somewhat proud OF our proximity TO war, and OIL
who have been to the frontier are very vain OF
the hardships they have gone through, especially
those who dld not undrcss for two nights. am
still at Namur, and beg to repeat what
Kindness Of the Namurols The railway station
here has presented some singular scenes, :,
Trains arriving full OF French soldiers ers,,oi IN
crowds OF Belgans receiving them, ladies ana gen.
tlemen (of course 'red cross'' people, tearing III
with trays full OF refreshments, dashing IN so IN
discriminatory that | have often had to beat
hurried retreat before these crusaders Other kind
citizens would come rushing from cafes, &C. Win
TO grief against each other, ana ',lquorihg w, VI
rather down, the ground Instead ol tne military.
Others bought up the lrult stalls IN the streets
bodily and brought thenl--this is a great place Tor
fruit. You the hardening influences had not ex.
tended to these outsiders and all was sympathy ana
The appearance Of The French troops was singular
In the extreme and you could hardly guess al IN
original uniform OF some Of them. Those who came
by road, chiefly cavalry, were IN much worse con-
dition than those who came by train. You could
hardly tell which looked most miserable, the men
mr. IA n nj m
tons; some. they SAID, had been sadded and
bridled for eight days. Many OF the men had not
covered with white dust their appearance was truly
pitable. Their costumes were eeXtraordinary-some
wrapped In horse blankets, some bare headed,
others with Belgian caps, cavalry with rags Of In
fantry uniform, curassi rs with remains OF zouave
dress-such sight Yet with 1t all their solcierly
spirit was not quite quenched and through their
dust ana dirt and squald misery they contrlved To
show some remnants OF martial decoium and pride
Those l saw at the station, too were not by any
means utterly crushed. but had great deal TO say
for themselves in sprightly French fashion. You
know, OF course, Frenchman never u beateh-he
always is betrayed. II II had not been Tor the M
Jdu,e trahisOn Of some parties unknown the Eng.
lish would have been 6crdses at waterloo. ana SO
would the Prussans on 'ne nanks oi ,e mne, IN, aS
The army, the Emperor. had been wlckedly betrayed
had not been properly supplied WIN ammunition or
| food-had been obliged to fight with bayonets only
those who had both ball and bayonets. Their defeat
| was the result of treachery simply and SO on.
The appearance of the Nanur station must be re-
freshnr to these poor fellows after all they have
seen iaiely Ladies in irreproachabe costumes gen.
temen also, whose coats and boots are sa'.s pouf g
! sans reprOche are waiting TO receive them from
the most precocous hours In the morning till quite
late at night these wild crusaders are at their posts
| Three rooms at the station are filed up by them
! One Is an ambulance another reception room and
the third store room and has capital stores You
| look at them with surprise Are these modei noun
| tains? No, they are merely piles Oh whte bread
| those are not little castle turrets, but barrels o
beer neatly standing upon barrels OF beer
Observe the regiments OF wine bottes-they are
| oil here abundance, tOO ana snucy
| looking cOrpulent sausages Here also you see IN
abundance not the 'ppes OF peace, but The cigars
| OF neutrality cigar boxes III heaps upon heaps.
| Would That some Of our provisions could go TO the
unhappy prisoners, who are starving, we hear, In
the hands OF the Prussians. But our great stores
would perhaps be only drop In the ocean of
| want there.
These provisions are. however, not all that the
Namurois are prepared TO offer the fugtves, Tor no
sooner are they settled in the barracks than tney
asked out to dine with the townspeople 1t IS said
| that many OF these soldiers were moved TO tears by
4 the Kindness OF their reception here.
| Our station is however, not only place for
oua an nor g aoes an
soders than they go from carriage TO carriage beg
gng help Tor the wounded Iner appeas are ole, oi.en
watching these trans, what wonderful scenes ihs
railway stations have witnessed since the com
menceInent Of this war-the enthusiastic embarSa
tons of troops, the mournful receptions or thu
wounded, the excited gatherings TO hear The news
the fights the terrOrs the DISCUSSES, the discoveries
they have witnessed! These business.likc piace,
Will be for the future as much embalmed IN strange
memories the most romantic ruins In the world.
There are not many wounded soldiers here yet
not more than one hundred believe; and they are
mostly at the st. Jacques-n0t at the military hos
pita. wish more OF the sufferers could be sent on
here; they might be better cared for than they are
| now on the frontier or In France. The stories one
nears OF their condition there are too horrible. But
| what system could cope with the enormiiy OF the
| distress? The National Society does wonders as II
| is we understand: but all learn makes me look
| upon Namur just now as little oasis In the great
desert OF suffering Our wounded are, for the most
part, not very badly hurt as the worst cases were
not brought so far. The usual policy of dispersion
Is however, to be followed as soon as special trans
ports 10 the different towns Of Belgium can be ar
ranged for that purpose. Among the prisoners here
| NAV mention NJ Paul dc Cassagnac. Beyond this
| name know OF none OF sufficient fame to interest
you.