The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-04-07

Roman empire torn asunder and in dis
solution"
Attila was already beseiging Orleans,
defended bravely by the bishop, st.
Anianus, and a devoted Jamiason. The
| venerable prelate sent this message TO
| Actius, IF thou be not here this very
day, my son 1T will be too late" On the
| approach Of the Roman general, the
Huns retired toward Champagne; and
or the plain hard by Chalons-Sur-
| Marine the two immense bodies Of men
Joined in conflict, of which Jarmades
the Gothic historian, says: 1T was a
battle which, for atrocity, multitude,
horror and stubbornness. has not its
like in the records of antiquity" His
tCrians differ as to the number of men
engaged or the losses on both sides.
h highest estimate of the cad lett
on the field is 800 1000; the lowest, l0O,-
900.
Not a few of the worlds battles
stand forth conspicuously on the pages
OF history, not from the number of
combatants or the carnage of the field
but from the magnitude of the issues
involved and the importance of the re-
suits accomplished. In the year 1872
was fought the battle of Tours: not
comparable with many others of 10Th
ancieAt and modern times in the
strength of the forces brought into &c
ton, though the losses were great-on
the side of the Arabs over. 80 per cent;
on the side of the Franks 20 per cent.
1t was won by Charles Martel Charles
the Hammer), grandfather of CharIa-
mango, over Abdul Rhaman, the Mus
cFrlp1un onunrnnp oonaral Of CnoJn VI
der Caliph Hashem. 1t was one of the
most mOmentous Of all the armed COL
fiicts among the nations of the earth.
OF it's importance Guizot declares: 1T
was a struggle between East and WeSc,
North and South, Asia and Europe the
Gospel and the Koran; and we now say
on a general consideration of events,
peoples, and ages, that the civilization
of the world depended on it."
From the mightiness Of the issues
and the decisiveness of the results, 4
of the memorable battles in the history
Of the world was Marathon, the field
of which inspired Byron to write:-
The Mountains look on Marathon,
And Marathon looks on the sea;
But, musing there an hour alone,
| dreamed that Greece might yet DC,
free
| For, standing On a Persian's grave,
| could not deem myself a slave"
Yet at Marathon, fought 400 years
before Christ, there were only 1la,OoG
Persians on the field commanded by Da-
It's and Artaphernes, opposed by $4,000
| Greeks, led by Miltiades. The Persians
lost 6,400 men, not quite 6 per cent:
the Greeks lost 1872, less than ! IL per
cent. But the victory of Miltiades say
ed Greece from the conditions of a Per+
sian satrapy.
On the other hand, at the hattie Of
Praga in 1794-passed owe by the his
| torians with a line or two of comment
as of minor interest-the percentage Of
loss was almost unparalleled in the an
nails of warfare, $4,000 out of about a.
900 Poles having been massacred by
the fierce old Russian general SUWar-
row., one of the most terrible fighters
of any age. But this was b%utchery, not
battle.
Not far from the modern town Of AK
in Provence, stands the church st. VIC
toire, where the hapless Margaret OF
Anjou, wife of Henry VI OF England,
worshipped when at the court OF Ler
father, the imbecile old King Rene. just
before she ended the remnant OF her
bitter days at Dampiere. On the site Of
this church was erected, more than l.:
900 years ago, 4 pyramid commemOra7
tive of a battle gained 102 years before
the birth of Christ, by the Roman gen.
eral, Marius over the Teutons and me
Ambrons, where the dead of the harba-
rians strewed 50 thickly the plain of
battle that for generations it was call
ed :"The Field of Putrefaction,' trace
able today in Pourrieres, the name Of
a little village nearby. 1t was this Ma
RUS who, sitting in his desolate old age
amid the ruins of Carthage, replied to
the messenger sent by the Dictator SEi-
la t summon him to Rome: GO, tell
your master that you have seen his
master
But a greater than l is at issue with
the Philadelphia Record-the French
historian, Charles Rollin, surely very
high authority-both as to the time at
which the battle of Arbela took place,
and us to the number of men content
ing on the field. Rollin makes the slaTel
four years later than the Philadelphia
Record, $50 B. y, and as to the num-
Der of men engaged and the losses s,,s-
tanned, L quote MN IN full:
THE forces Of Darius consisted of at
least COO, 900 foo and 10000 horse, and
those of Alexander 10000 foot and I'll
600 or 5000 horse. But the latter were
all fire and strength; whereas, on the
side of the Persians, it was a vast as
semblage of men, not soldiers-an emp-l
ty phantom rather than a real army"
In a foot note Rollin states that sOmcI
historians estimate the Persians at Up-t
wards of Loco, 600.
AS to the losses at Arbela, Rolli1
writes: According to Adrian, the Perl
slams lost SOC, 900 men, besides thoseI
who were taken prisoners: which isl
proof that the loss was very great on
their side. The loss Of Alexander was
inconsiderable, he not losing, accordinsI
to the last mentioned author, mOrel
than 1,200 men, most of whom were
horse"
Ts -bo G~~~oc r;ror hy po1l;r no oor |