The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1870-09-08

y In
1t is very pleasant after the evo-
ming draws on, TO set well forward
and watch the many colored lights
as they dance about npon the water
and along the hill sides. They twin
klc far away like stars closc BY, they
suddenly blaze out upon You, and -
quickly disappear ~ The boat movos
on ward in her over changing course.
Thorc seems TO bo sort Of mystery
about the river, and overy thing ON
it. A life carefully concealed and
yet peering oat through these lhous-
and eyes which blink ~ you from
every direction. es .
Then, too, the blackncss Of the
frowning mountaius above the deep
shadows !; tho surg'ng BY Of long con
voys Of deeply laden boats; the rsm-
bling of distant railway trans, and.
the.unearthly shrick with which their
approach 10 ANNOUNCED all these
adjancts mako the night ride roman
tic enough for the most exacting. A
stroll through the cabin proves the
boat crowded, but there was singu-
lar absence of tho sociability l re-
member TO have known, whom 10 my
boyhood, was accustomed 70 visit
New York with my father. Then
everybody seomed acquainted. and
therc was plenty Of music and lively
talk, To night it secms stupid
enough inside. Thore was, ofconrse,
some little talk about the war, but
no animation. Perhaps the genuine
American has no special feeling in
tho contest, and I am not certain
that ho should have, at tho present
stageofthe game. Asa dnolaboatreal
or faneied insult, or as Question OF
mere national prcpondorcnce or of
dynasty, don't soc how we can get
up much enthusiasm for either sidc.
Neither tho liohenzollerns nor the
Bonapartes can be called beneiaetors,
and they certainly havo no claim on
the sympathy ofa liberty loving peo-
pie. Both arc despotic as far as the
time viii allow, and each, envious OF
the other, they would swallow up oil
the unapprop,iated districss Of the
Rhine, including Switzerland, If it
could be divided amicably. 1t is as
clear a quarrel between rogues as any
of this generation have seen. And
after all we do feel An interest in the
fight. We want TO see Republics both
in France and Germany. We may
like to see Napoleon fall, bat We
ought not not to wish France crushed
That people bavc shown too msch
self-dcniala and patriotism, even during
the worst excesscs Of . revolutionary
era, to fall helplessly At tho vsry
dawn Of anew day for mankind.-
These repeated dcfsats call forth, not
sH~a 49,
only French courage, but French
patriotism, aud when organized, ~ I
am sure it will bc, into suceessful
defense, it will not submit longer to
. Bonaparte or an Orleans.
And a. to Germany, every, body
knows that Bismarck is as cruel as
he is able, and that Germanic Union
has thus far been accompanied by
the destruction Of local, or as it
might be better stated, by the des.
truct,on Of hereditary State hide.
pcndencc. United Germany. inter
preted by the work.of tho past two
yc0EH, MoAub COuOCitAAh0N ANsV h
the hands Of one man, with IN army
large enough to whip any disafsoted
portion of the people into admission.
It means, absortion Of every neigh
boring province that 10 not strong in
men aud influential enough TO com.
mand them. The Prussian idea, now
known as the Germanic idea, is
strength and expansion, and Il King
William succeeds in building up an
absolutism strong enough to over awe
Europe, he will only have realized
the ambition of his ancestor, the
Great Frederic. 81
| l trust the time is at hand whom
both countries will FREQ themselves
from monarchical system, which
fattens on the sweat and labor Of the
people, and grows great out Of tho
blood shed in itsdefence. WArELLo.