The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-26
FRENCH AND GERMAN UNITY.
The Origin Of the French and German Ma
uonnlities, and Gradual Development Into
their Present status.

uonnlities, and Gradual Development Into
their Present status.
In an article on French and German Unity"
the london Saturday ReuteU says Il
Let us look at things from the beginning. What
is Germany? What Is France? Germany is an an
Sraduay split up INTO various ind ates Meh
and several of whose frontier provinces have been
swallowed up by, France itself. 1t is now accom-
plishing, wemay almost say that has ACCOMPLISHED
the restoration Of its internal unity. We have yet
to whether the restoration Of its unity will be
followed by any conquest at the expense OF
France itself, even by the milder process OF win
ming back what France has conquered from Ger
many. What, on the other hand, Is France? On the
most favorable view view of courtesy rather than
Of truth, 1t is sister kingdom OF Germany, called
into being at the same time, which ran the same
than Germany, which reunited itself sooner than
Germany, and which, as soon as the process OF re-
avoidable impulse OF human nature, to extend its
borders at the expense OF its neghbors This
Is the view most favorable to France. 1t places
perfectly parallel career and II it is ominous Of
future wrongs to be done by Germany to France, 1t
eye and tooth"-that the wrongs which may pos
sibly be some day done by Germany will only be
done by France In this view we take them as sister
Kingdoms sprngng out OF the divisions OF the great
Frankish Empire in the ninth century, No earlier
origin can possibly be given to modern France. We
do not feel quite comfortable In not insisting on an
origin hundred years later Dreams about France
representing Roman Ganl, dreams about France
representing the Carolingian empire must of course
be laid aside. They are dreams and nothing more
s out s the her csn er % his e % 6
German conqueror. 1t is enough that he has sue
cessively flched the name Of beth. 1t was as
Roman that the Frank conquered him, and It is now
as Frenchman that he goes forth against the real
representative OF the ancient Frank. Nothing in
any way answering to the modern French couatry
nation existed before the divisions OF the ninth
century. Roman Gaul, as we have already said was
berians and it is only one OF these three that modern
France can have the slightest claim to represent.
The German kingdom OF the Frapks, sometimes
united, sometimes divided into several under its
Merovingian kings answers to nothing in earlier or
later geography. Tne immediate FranRish dominion
took In large part both OF Northern Germany and
OF Northern Gaul and held neighboring States Ike
Aquitaine, Brittany, and Bavaria in such degrees
OF precarious dependence as its uctuating strength
from time to time contrived. 1t left 1t name equally
on Gaulish and on German ground. There was
Francia TeutonicG as well as a EGncia Latina, an
OTteitdtts as We'll as an OccidentGs and at this day
II there are Frdncafs there also FFG1aken. But
to this earlier Franeid FrGaciG which indeed took
In both Paris and Mainz, but which did not take in
Bordeaux and Toulouse, modern France has
nothing IN common but the name. With the
lesser tranc5G the Western or Latin rrGnetG--that
modern France has so much to do that IL has gra-
dually grown out OF 1t, but we can hardly suppose
the great nation TO be so enamored of antiquity as
TO wish to withdraw from these narrow limits The
plain fact is that the duchy OF France grew into
the kingdom, and the kingdom thinks good to call
itself an empire. But we suppose we must be
little more civil than this. Some sort of foreshadOW-
ing Of modern France did for the first time come
lt came into the world by an accident. Lewis the
Pious had given his favorte son Charles the king
dom OF Neustrla, that is, roughly speaking, Gaul
north OF the Loire; next, when he had the
chance, he gave HIM the kingdom OF Aquitaine also
ana the two together, which had never before
obeyed the same Immediate ruler, formed something
which may be called dim foreshadowing OF modern
France. A State arose great dea, smaller than
modern France, whose natural frontiers to the east
were the Rhone, the Saone, and the Macs but which
stretched further than modern France TO the north
and south in the parts OF Flanders and Barcelona
Like other Kingdoms at the time. IL had no fxed
name; IL was "Regnum occidentaleh and the like,
but IL also showed tendency like some other King,
doms, TO take the name OF its rst King. As Lothsr
gave his name to Lotharingia,, Lothrngen Lor-
faine, u seemed at first as II Charles the
lingia, KarliDgen, Charlaine. But for another
accdenLls might have been the great and glorious
empire OF Charlaine. But the Req Rqrolerugs or
KarIensiun was, OF all contemporary Kings the one
who displayed the least power OF keeping his do
coTui', one OF the several Reyes Fraac0rugs among
whom the great Frankish dominion had split up
Chance combined In two ways 10 make him the SIN
gle Rez Ffancos ul and 10 give his land the distnc-
1--WE name OF France. The other Rep FrGssc0ris,i,
merged that title In higher one Imperator Caesar
Augustus Mad no need TO commemorate his Franllsh
title. ON the other hand the Dukes OF the Latin
France, the most powerful vassals OF the Western
Kingdom, strove for and at last won the Western
crown The land l0et all chance OF being any Longer
ChayaiHe, and BY some caprice OF fortune It never
became HnsoHSlDs again. Tue paxpe 0i the Royal