Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-07-23

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fed. No living man would be so mucl
amused with this theory as Count Bis
marck, the guiding principle of who's,
life seems now to be: .fectere Sd neruet
superos, Acher0nid morebo. We talk 0
inconsistencies in statesmen, but thu
world has never seen so remarkable al
instance of man reversing all his pro
fessions as it witnesses in the case O
Bismarck. In 1850 he made a speech
avowing that the mission of Prussia wal
to subordinate herself to Austria. Ter
years afterward he warned Austria tha
she must finally abandon her old position
in Germany. In 1864 Prussia led Aus
tria into the war against Denmark, and
managed to absorb all the advantages oi
the enterprise. That little interlude is
partly forgotten now, but the transactions
associated with it are little to the credit
Of other powers besides Prussia. Eng
land sympathized with Denmark, and all
but positively pledged its assistance to
her. There can be no doubt hut Den
mark went into the war counting upon
this assistance. 1t never came-Den-
mark was crushed, and Austria betrayed.
The King of Prussia and the Emperor
of Austria agreed to divide the Elbe
Duchies between them at the famous
meeting where the convention of Gastein
was drawn up. All this time Austria was
merely being used by Prussia as cat s
paw. Bismarck, with the proverbial
zeal Of new convert, had taken up the
grand idea of North German Confed-
Grafton, and resolved that no price would
be too high to pay for it. Since the time
of Frederick the Great, the policy of
Prussia has been to suppress weaker
States, or place its feudatories on vacant
thrones. The story of the Elbe Duchies
and of Hanover illustrates the first
tendency, and the recent intrigue with
Prim is an example of the second. But
Bismarck's intention to render Prussia
the dictator of Germany was at first so
little appreciated by hepeople, especial
ly when they say it involved war with
Austria that he was probably the most
unpopular man in the country When
he was shot at, in May, 1866, the sympa-
thies of his countrymen were entirely
with the assassin. 1t was all different
after the war. Bismarck was received
in Berlin with more than royal honors,
hut no man knew better than he that his
work was only half done.
France could not look unmoved upon
the supremacy acquired by her daring
rival. NJ Edgar Quinet wrote in 1867 :
"Will not France often and often awake
from her sleep, thinking she hears the
step of her giant neighbor? Or, sup
posing she were to fall asleep without
taking prudential measures, would not
this be the sign Of a deadly relaxation? +?
And what temptation then for Ger
many to take advantage of It'll In all
these cases our danger is equally great.
But what could France do at this pc
riod? She had no weapon which she
could oppose to the needle-gun of Prus-
sia, and the example of Austria had
shown how mad was the hope of winning
battles with an inferior arm. The hosts
of Austria fell like corn beneath the
sickle, while the Prussan troops were
comparatively unscathed Austria had
made the fatal mistake of undertaking
her rival. The saying attributed to Prince
Schwarzenburg : ~ faut dUilir Ia
P.usse d abord pour eRsuite Ia demoLr
whether really uttered. or not, ex-
pressed the sentiments prevailing at
Vienna, and the result was that Austria
was herself almost destroyed.
The Emperor Napoleon could not
fght-but he could prepare to fight.
Prussia, so far from moderating her
aims, seemed clearly to be enlarging
them. Her next move was to place a
feudatory upon the throne of Spain Ma
poleon saw that the hour had come for
striking the blow. If he has been am
bilious, can any one pretend that Prus-
sia has not also been guided by that fatal
passion? Is the aggressiveness all
on the side of Napoleon? This is not
question to be decided by sympathies,
but by regard for the records of histo-
ry. These two great Powers have been
striving to gain the mastery in Europe
for years past. Bismarck undoubtedly
seemed to be winning the game. If
France and Prussia could now be left
alone to fight out their own quarrel, the
world would look on, not indeed indiffer-
ly, but with comparative calmness
OF this, however, we have no guarantee.
Any accident, the temporary invasion of
Belgium, might draw England into the
vortex, and events might occur which
would at once and irreyokably change |
the current of modern history. It is alb
solutely certain that the present war
even if its area is not enlarged, will ma
terially change the position of the con-
testants. If Napoleon failed, he would
disappear from the throne of France,
Will, King William | would probably
emerge as Emperor of Germany. If
Prussia is compelled to treat for peace,
the loss of her Rhenish provinces would
probably not be the ultimate measure of
her humiliation.