The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-08-04
IRON the Nation. July a
Wiih Which Side should we Sympa-
fhiTf

lFTom the Nation. July n D
Whh Which Side should We Sympa-
thiZe?
There could hardly be a mere sirIk-
ing Illustration Of the sIall0wness OF
our. civilization than the fact that one
OF the foremost nations ii the world
should at this moment be placing its
blood and and treasure At the disposal
OF Bonaparte-Of al men in the
wOrld-tO carry on u war rofsGceessiOn.
The reappearance Of a B0napaYte on
the throne of France was an express
assertion and yindicatiOn on his part
and on that of the nation of two doc
trines-yiZ. that every nation has a
right to choose anybody it pleases for
! sovereign, and that no choice il can
make gives any other -"Od reason for
either fear or compile = The viii of
the people being the Ddpreme law, the
blood or antecedents Of the person it
ehoOses for It's chief could not, We were
told, Affect its foreign policy. It was
only BOurbOns and other imbecile adj
herents of divine right, and Of the the
ory OF royal ownership of kingdoms,
who would see i'm family alliances any
Necessary disturbance of International
relations. The other powers of Eu-
rope frankly accepted this preaching
in 1Sjl. They remained perfectly
tranquil while the head Of 4 family
which had been prescribed by the
public iaW as dangerous TO IFS peace
pull himself ON the throne Of France
by bloody revolution, and admitted
that II France was satisfied nobody
else hzi any right to complain. 1t is
this man who is now plunging into
an armed conflict, first Of all, in de-
NAL of the right of the Spanish people
to chose their King; and, secondly,
in assertion of the Old mOnarchical
theory that the foreign policy of gov
ernments Is regulated by the blood
relationships of its sOveTigns; in short,
We are witnessing in the neneteenth
century a war of succession in which
the principal actor is an elected die
tator.
/ The World last week endeavOred,
with good deal of ingenuity, to show
that so far as any claim to the SYM
pathg Of the American people IS con-
ceFned, Prussia is on no better footing
than France, owing TO the despOtie
temper and thoroughly feudal ante
eedents of the reigning king. But it
must not be forgotten that he has in
herited both his temper and his posi-
ton, and that he is very old man,
to whose vagaTies the Prussian people
submit, partly because they entertain
traditional affection for his house,
and partly because his reign must at
best Be short. In flet, ne IS but q relic
Of the old Tegime-the last surviving
monarch who believes IN the Divine
origin OF his own authority. His heir
is , liberal, and, If no. a progressive
man. IN our sense Of the word, is
sufficiently so for all the purposes OF
PTlssian progress, which, Il not rapid,
i one Of the surest and strongest
things the modern world has to show.
Nothing else certainly has Offersd
Europe this far 50 comfortable an
escaDe from feudalism; nothing else
has been so successful IN pOpuiarizing
the g0yeTnmeHt, While UphOlding the
claims Of knowledge and skill 70 the
eontr0i Ofh1man aflaiEs, ard II sim
Uisting industry without. Creating 3
vast proletIriat- The arrogance Of
the Prussisls there Il no use denying
and the foreign policy Of Bismz1Ck
kzS certainly been thoroughly Ul-
seFupul01s; bur this UnSeTupul0Usness
has ben Gislsyeti IN the execution Of
s,saetneS tc which every lover q Is
kind must TIsh sUeceSs- In the cellv-
eE1nee Of 4 ggz1 people from beng
the preE o deSlseztlle and v0-ZclOIs
Urircs-kIuEs- ard II she Infusion of
activItT, LargeueSs Of sim and nC6le
asrb5a5on unto tneir nationsI LIFE
King William aud hfs minister ur5lI
EaSs away Tie vOrk of their hands
vi f-st. and the PrIssis they have
sS=T8ld51ed mEss ceTGalniy long r.
main tilz- community q the Oh
NFl1-fd 10 which those who are inter
estsd IN the improvement o. hEuau
elEEacte- thro1Eh p,olitiesl setion VII
lO0k With most hope There e no en-
elsE Of sfsndinE arn5eS- tOO-n0body
VIC fees the magnitude of the evils
which thee vast Isolated horieS Of
itlle nle1 in1ict on the world-but
must wish thas when any army CON-
posed IS the PruSsian army largely j.,
takes the field in a good cause, victory
may perch on its bsnuers. An army
in whose ranks plOwman fresh from
the field, CLERKS fresh from their desks, /
and professors fresh from their chairs,
stand shoulder to shoulder, must al |
ways be an object OF sympathy to I
those, of whatever country, who look
forward to the time when the soldier
viii never be anything else than an
armed man defending his home, ard
must, wherever its "vOliie1 thundersn
fly, make the spread of Caesarism i'm
possible.
That the present government OF
France is a Caesarist government
that is, q government Of brute force, |
unlallowed by time and unsupported
by traditions or sentiment-and that
it can never be anything else, we sup
pose is now fully demonstrated. !
Nothing can be clearer than that the /
late concessions to liberalism were on !
" a sham and n snare, intended to ex- !
tract from France the vote which /
has encouraged the desperate gam |
bier who occupies the throne to en-
gage in another and unprOvOked war, |
in the hope OF securing his son the /
succession. There is no longer ves- /
tige of eonstitutionalism in his policy I
or his methods. Unfortunately he l
has this time hit upon the very surest /
means of rallying the French people /
to his standard They would not be /
the descendants of the Gauls ifany re- /
gard for political freedom caused them |
to hesitate seriously about following |
to the field anybody whom either |
law, accident or usurpatiOn had COM |
mitted the national flag. NeVerthe- !
less, in spite of their nnteeedents we
are still 10th to belieYe in the accura-
cy of the telegraphie stories Of the /
enthusiasm with which this wicked /
war has been greeted. We may be |
sure that, however the ministerial |
press in Paris may shrek for battle, !
the cause of national progress, Of po- !
Iitical freedom, and of humanity has
not been left without plenty OF elo- |
quent witnesses in France as well as
elsewhere, and if they do their duty
manfully, and the Prussians hold |
German soil stoutly, it may be that |
this will be the last time we shall SEQ
the French army doing the bloody /
work of reckless and unscrupulOus !
adventmers. Nobody who knows |
anything Of its many great qualities, !
of the courage, the science, the self
devotion which it always has tOshow, /
or OF the almost pathetic worship Of |
the point of honor of which even the /
rank and file are capable, can see it !
wasted III these wild fOrays without !
the deepest sympathy and regret.
About Idle Daughters.