The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-02
FRANCE AND PRUSSIA.

FRANCE AND PRUSSIA.
From the London Saturday Rerie,c.
1t is for the French people to Judge whether
their Government has played on a real or
assumed national weakness by its noisy
menaces of a causeless war. It is more than
doubtful whether the clustering levity of the
more bellicose politicians of Paris is shared
either by the intelligent part of the COM
munity, or by the mass of the population.
The JouTnolde Debdts, the Steele, and one
or two of the Republican papers have been
distinguished by a prudent reserve which was
unfortunately not displayed by every English
journalist. 1t is difficult to believe hat either
the rural supporters of the Empire or the
trading classes in the towns wish to double
the taxes, and to increase ivefold the burden
of the CONSUMPTION, for the frivolous purpose
of excluding from the throne of Spain
a prince who had, seven hundred years
ago, q common ancestor with the
King of Prussia, or for the still weaker
reason of resenting a project which has been
abandoned. If an objectionable crime and a
dangerous blunder have indeed been avoided,
it may be alleged that a victory has been
achieved without shedding a drop of blood;
but if there has been a French victory, it is
over Spain or Sigmaringen, for Prussia has
incurred neither defeat nor humiliation. 1t
was not worth while wantonly to ALLEVIATE the
good will of Spain; and if time is allowed for
reflection, French politicians will discover
that the policy of the Government has given
a fresh impulse to the completion of German
unity. The maladroit brawlers of the war
like press nave openly declared that the
French protests were directed, not against the
Hohenzollern candidature, but against the
past and prospective ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of
Prussia. The obsolete project of an
nexing the left bank of the Rhine has
been ostentatiously revived in all the
ancient Ignorance of geography, of history,
and of practical possibility. The. agitators
who declaim against the independence of a
neighboring rival have yet to learn that Ger
many is a great and patriotic nation, not in
ferior to France in the arts either of peace
or of war, and superior in numbers. The
coveted provinces have never belonged to
France, except during the short period of
the Republic and the Empire; and they are
inhabited by a purely German population.
To believe that Germany would, even after
suffering military r%everses, submit to dis
memberment merely because a portion of the
national territory is traversed by a great
river, is an antiquated delusion. 1t woult
be but prudent to profess that the
opposition to q Prussian King of Spain, in
the absence of any other justification, was at
least serious and sincere. If the menace of
war was intended to extort any other conces-
sion than the withdrawal of the Hohenzollern
candidate, the bloodless victory, if it has
been achieved, assumes the character of a
defeat. No material impediment will in that
case be offered to the more complete union
of Germany, and the motives of patriotism
and of interest which recommend it have
become more urgent and more operative.
If the terms of the Duke of Gramonts cir
lar have been correctly reported, the French
Government must share the discredit which
attaches to the violent section of the press.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is said to
have o~fisially declared that the aggressive
ness of Prussia causes legitimate apprehen-
sion for the maintenance of the political
balance of Europe. France has, as he unne-
cessarily declares, always kept in view the
policy of not allowing itself to be swallowed
up by the neighboring States, This has been
the policy followed since the times of Francis
/ by Henry ", by Richelieu, by Louis XIV,
and by Napoleon l." Such q despatch, if it
has really been communicated to Lord Gran
vile, must have taxed his patience and his
courtesy.
1t is useless to guess at a decision which
will in a few hours be known in all parts of
Europe. The French Government has by
this time ascertained that a wanton disturb
ance of peace is universally r~eprobated, for
Lord Granville's dispatches can scarcely have
failed to correct the Misrepresentation which
was caused by the laundering subserviency of
one or two newspaper writers. Napoleon 1
never attacked a neighbor without more
plausible p~retexts than any which can be
alleged by the Duke of Gramont. A war
will be an act of deliberate wickedness; and
even if the crisis is now finally terminated,
the peace of Europe is obviously insecure.
The chiefs of the army, and the literary
advocates of war, are eager to try the instru-
ment which has been brought to perfection
by Marshal Mel and his successor. A great
army is raised and equipped because there is
a supposed risk of war, and then it is thought
that so admirably organized a force ought to
be used before it declines in efficiency. The
Ministers and the Emperor himself will not
be trusted, even if they sincerely adopt a
pacific policy Late experience has shown
that an apparently clear sky offers no security
against the sudden rise of a thunder-cloud
NJ. Ollivier's ~rashness, and the calculated
violence of the Duke of Gramont, may at
any moment reappear. On the other side,
the Germans will be reasonable jealous,
and if any controversy arises,
they will be more than ever charv
of concessions. Although the Hohenzollern
candidature or election was a matter of indif-
ference to Germany, great annoyance will be