Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-10-08
The Impending War in Europe.

! A great war in Europe is inevitable
| Those who place the slightest trust il
the assurances of peace which the ri.
val governments are continually max
| ing, forget the maxim OF Talleyrand
that the use of speech is the conceal,
ment Of thought. Those who choose
to take the word of French or Prus
sian Minister, forget that truth is the
one essential virtue which a con-
tinental statesman cannot afford to
practice. All great wars in Europee
have begun with proclamations OF
peace, SO that the very phrase of sin
ternational amity sounds like the re-
port Of a gun. The nearer the war,
the more earnest are the protestaticns
of goodwill and the governments
remind us of plize-f fighters who, just
before they beat each other to jelly,
exchange the warmest hand-shak-
ings and most cordial smiles. We
have had more than one instance in
this generation ofroyal rulers congrat
ulating their subjects upon the pros
pect of long and happy peace at the
very moment when they were pre-.
pairing their armies to invade some>
body elso's territory. France de-
sires peace; all her interests are bound
up in undisturbed commerce, manu>
facture and art. She will make any
sacrifice to avoid war" This is the
manner in which the Emperor talked
at Amiens. 81 have crossed France
with the Empress from Strasburg to
Dunkirk, and our hearty and sympa>
thetic reception everywhere has fill>
ed us with the liveliest gratitude
Nothing, l perceive with pleasure,
can shake the confidence which, for
20 years, the French people have
placed in me. They have estimated
az their real value the difficulties |
have had to surmount. The Tissue.
cess ofour policy across the ocean has
not diminished the prestige of our
arms, since everywhere the valor of
our soldiers evercame all opposition.
The events accomplished in Germany
have not caused the country to de-
part from calm ard dignified atti-
tude, and it relies with justice on the
maintenance Of peace" Yet all this
reliance upoa he perpetuity ofpeace
did not prevent Napoleon from buy
ing iron clad war vessels in America
to increase a navy already superior
to that Of England. Nor did it put
stop to the unusual activity in reor>
ganizing, drilling, and arming every
branch Of the military service. The
camps of France arc as busy as her
manufactures. Immediately after
the triumph of Prussia, measures
were taken to organize the army up
on u basis of 100000 men. Prussia,
equally emphatic in her protestations,
has been as significant in her actions.
The avowed policy of Bismarck is the
consolidation of the north German
states into one great military power,
of which Prussia shall be the head,
and it is notorious that his schemes
have for their immediate object the
detaching of the South German States
from the influence of Austria. France
is arming; Prussia is arming; the
needlegun is to be met with the
Chassepot rife. Austria is sacrifice
ing the hereditary policy of the
House of Hapsburg to gain-what
she has never had-the effective sup
port of Hungary, and an assurance
that Hungarian troops could be de-
pended upon in battle. Italy and
even Switzerland are adding to their
materials of war, while that vast and
semi barbaric power which over
hangs Western Europe like threat
ening cloud has already announced
that the Sultan a4ust revolutionize
the whole system Of his government.
Every movement Of Russia against
Turkey has been the prelude to a
great continental struggle, and, of all
her movements, the late demand is
the boldest. And war does not result
from the action of the Gar, as much
as his action is governed by his
knowledge Of the future. Peace may
be preserved by miracle-but mr.
aclcs are rare in politics; and if there
is any significance in facts, the editor
of this paper was right when he lately
gave bic opinion, in his Paris cor>
respondence, that war was the set>
tied purpose of tho European Powers,
and that France and Prussia would
meet on new battle-felds before next
Spring, The music of festivities and
the songs peace are heard through
~ Il 4 II
ing strains is heard the far sound of
trumpets, and the roll OF approaching
drums. The silence is like that Of a
bright morning when two great ar>
mics meet, and while the birds sing
and the bees hum in the clover, await
for few brief moments the command
to fire and the word to charge along
the line Wilkes Spi,it OF the Times