The Detroit times., 1908-11-28
The Bells of the Empire

! ulers asked one anOtner, HOW are We
! 10 end?"
But the spirit OF the bells. encased
in the guns suddenly woke up.
In the battle OF Craonne. at the mo-
ment when the ~ guns OF the guard
advanced from Hurte Bise voice was
heard roaring from the mouths Of the
bronze cannons: We are the bells o:
/ Lodi, Millesimo, Arcole and Mantua,
Make room for us, We have sung
about the Pyramids. Trebia, Zurich.
Mount Thabor and Aboukir Make
room. make room, And when the ba,-
teries had been placed in position,
when the command: s'Fire" had been
given, they all roared. During the bat
tie OF I-aon. they were heard above the
din: Make room for the bells OF Aus
terlitz. Trafalgar. Jena. Eylan. Danzig
and Friedland," And they did make
room for them time and again, the en-
Cmies retreated.
| They had found their strength once
more In the roar of the battle and
il was not the booming OF cannon
that was heard on the hills at Reims
but the songstresses OF AOensberg,
Landshut, Eschmuehl, Ratisbonne AMI
ESs llHS gen. II was the DtllS.
Later OH, at Torey, when the en-
pire again raised it's head, Napoleon
could ear them through the din OF
battle. He PUT spurs TO his horse and
for the seventh time the voices rang
out: we are the bells OF Witebsk.
Smolensk and Moscow. Make room ~
Eut they nc longer sang, they died
away
| The day after that second battle
at Arcis sur Aube the emperor wanted
TO shake off the ugly dream-fifty
thousand men, Russians. Bavarians,
Austrlans. tried TO capture the barri
oades. The artillery was lost and
family the voices sang: Make room =.
| We have sung at Lutzen-Bautzen-'
And whispering as il In their death
rattle: I'VE are the old bells from
Leipzig-Harau-"
Then began the insanity of Napol-
con He recognized those pure vir-
gins from the days Of his victories "a
the sound OF their voices, at the flight
OF their shells and he would say:
These guns were melted in Italy,
those the enemies took from the
steeples in 1s13--that is what gives
them their sombre voices--I am sor-
ry!"
After the two battles at la Fere he
sometimes awakened his terrific
marshals. They saw him standing Ia
the darkness with outstretched arms
and his pale face lowered The air
was filled with the din OF battle.
DO you hear the bells?"
Those are your mapestys guns.
you are mistaken, ii is the bells
ringing out my victories in Italy and
Germany
During the battle OF Paris they were
still singing. but there were hardly
any guns left.
He laid down his sccptre-and re-
ceiyed a last greeting from them.
But how they rang outflow they
sang TO him on Elba! To hear them
better he left the island all alone
with a new dream and his old sword.
And when the bells saw him their ter
ror was indescribable.
War, War! Call to war" he or
dered.
IL was the supreme cfort.
Not long after that day, amidst the
smoke Of powder at Waterloo, two
great guns were still struggling
Boom, Boom" Did he hear the
prophecy OF the mighty bronze voice .
Without minding the bullet the PRE-
DESTINED stood in the center OF the
square Of the guard looking at the
! bloody battlefield Seated on his horse .
pale. face 70 face with God. he listened
/ L. the moaning OF tie bronze bell anu
with his finger on his lips he ordered
/ fate 20 be silent.
/ \ Twice-thrice-like the gasp OF a
/ departing soul 1t came: BOOM
I Boom-Boom
Ana. Tie echo was lost on the bat
+ tlefeld where men. horses and guns
were lying pell-melll
/ The death knell of the empire was
being sounded.