Correspondence — Bombardment of Paris. 
XXV 
COREESPO]S"DE]S^CE EELATIYE TO THE BOMBAKDMENT 
OE PAEIS. 
Copi/ of Memorial to JEer Majedifs Government^ adopted ly the 
Royal Irish Academy, at their General Meeting, held on Monday, 
November Uth, 1870. 
To THE Eight Hon. Eael Geanville, K. G., 
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 
We, the President and Members of the Eoyal Irish Academy, desire 
to call the earnest attention of Her Majesty's Government to the irre- 
parable loss which would be sustained by the whole civilized world if 
the inestimable scientific, literary, and other collections of Paris 
should be destroyed or seriously injured during the siege. That city 
contains galleries stored with treasures of art, libraries rich in every 
species of literary monument, and scientific museums which are 
amongst the foremost in their several kinds. These collections repre- 
sent the accumulated labours of many generations, and are, in truth, 
the property not of Erance only but of the whole civilized world. 
Many of the objects contained in them, if once allowed to perish, 
no subsequent exertion could ever replace. The fate of the Library at 
Strasburg shows that these priceless collections are in real and immi- 
• nent peril from the operations of the war. It is not for us to pro- 
nounce any opinion on the merits of the present lamentable strug- 
gle, or on the conduct of either of the contending parties; but, 
as members of a body, having for its object the cultivation of 
Science, Literature, and Archaeology, we protest, in the name of the 
intellectual interests "of humanity, against the destruction of these 
collections ; and we respectfully call upon Her Majesty's Government 
to use their utmost efforts for their preservation, by impressing on the 
belligerents the duty of taking every possible precaution for their pro- 
tection from the dangers to which they are likely to be exposed. 
