| Show A retrospection AND A MORAL LAST saturday was wag the seventy sev anth anniversary of 0 one of the greatest great eat and aad most moat desperate ant abir consequential battles of modern aimee it involved not only victory or defeat for the participants but the future arrangement and welfare of all buro Euro fc it resulted in the oom complete downfall of the ambitious monarch who precipitated it and his enforced seclusion from mankind during the rest reat of his bli life we can occasionally look back to that momentous struggle ruggle et and wonder what would be the social and political features of europe had the result of the battle been different to what it was napoleons Napoleo ups plan was tj push welling I 1 ton into the sea on the west then turning to have given blucher such a bloody welcome as he had previously received at the same hands bands and sent him home with a decimated force and a broken heart such was the design and what followed would have teen ordered or at least approved of by was 4 man of destiny himself but it the not thus to be and napoleon went down to rise no more in his him not notes victor hugo bays that when in brussels he refused to visit the battle field of waterloo because it represented not only the triumph of europe over fra ce cebot but the complete absolute startling incontestable and final sovereign triumph of mediocrity over genius the gifted frenchman like most of lits countrymen could see nothing but genius in napoleons unbridled ambition and stolid indifference to human Fac sacrifice and is ifs if as alleged all europe combined against france it was because through napoleon france had bad arrayed itself against all europe the instinct of self preservation manifests itself as distinctly in the case of nations sometimes as in that of individuals and some day perhaps those who count so much upon the achievements of man and give praise only to hose who have been manifest and conspicuous in the worlds affairs will learn that there is a providence over all and that nations will not be dismembered or destroyed deb troyed except as has been decreed |
