The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-11-17

Thursday Morning, November IL, 1871.


"What will Carlyle say?" No one acqua'ht-
ell with British literature has failed 10 ask
himself that question many Tunes since
Crove,otte and Sedan. For among the mil
,;,,.z x,E,o swatch the Rhine" not one does so
with feelings Of more profound solicitude
or more intense iondness than the Chelsea
philosopher. The Germany OF old Barba-
rossa-his red beard as conspicuous in history
as Blue Boards in fable-of the Great Elector
Frederick, of the first Frederick William end
of Frederick the Great Ia lying, treacherous
Cog, Notwithstanding the immense credit he
gets from his biographer for what we may call
kind of subjective "veracity" what must
be the emotions of the famous old hero-wor-
worshipper as he sees that Germany easily
topple over the empire of the reputed nephew
of an uncle who was somehow too smart or
too lucky for such Fredericks. Hohenzollerns
and 6randenburgers as there were in his day
But it is of no use to Speculate, for M. D.
Conway has just written report of recent
interview with the philosopher at Chelsea.
He is SO much elated atthe success of his dear
Germany that, like Othello, che looks gentler
than he did," and begins to think this world
is not quite given over to fools and knaves as
he formerly supposed. OF course he has
placed William and Bismarck among the gods,
and holes that all the world besides is proper
ly employed only when it is submitting itself
unreservedly to these two divinities. He fore
sees that Germany will he presently CONSOLE
dated, taking in Lorraine, Alsace, the German
part of Austria, and, we suppose, the Dutch
and such other outlying Teutons as there
may be. He is delighted when he anticipates
all this, for he sees England and America 60
ing with almost equal pace straight toward
destruction by reason of their pernicious
democratic tendencies. In his opinion the
German empire, composed of the only human
material that is of any sort of consequence,
will "restore order" and put an end to the un-
easiness men have recently. exhibited to es-
cape from their masters. The democratic
mania may rage little longer and extend a
little farther, but Germany is the rock on
which it will go to pieces.
Such in substance are the opinions of Car
lyle. But we suppose that it is not sacrelig-
ious to dispute their correctness. 1t has been
thought by many uninspired people that the
man who says in one of his books that Free
Masonry is "a bog meteor of phosphuretted
hydrogen" and who reyled the war for. the
Union, may sometimes be mistaken. The re
salt of German union may be very different
from what he looks for. There is much DEM
ocratic leaven there. In 1S4S the republicans
drove King and court pell-mell out of Berlin,
and it was only the use Of a good deal of gum
powder that repressed the disturbance. At
ter Germany is united there will be much
less need than now of centralized govern
ment to protect it. The French ogre being
out of the world, there will be no longer any
necessity for the peoples erowding behind a
throne for shelter. Moreover, the new Euro
pean doctrine of the propriety of the uuion
of people belonging to single nationality un-
der one government, which is much empha-
sized by the successful struggle for German
union, is doctrine favorable to democracy.
So long as nations are made up of fragments
of territory arbitrarily associated under sim
gle ruler as chance or the successful rapacity
OF that ruler may determine, there will al
ways be frequent appeals to arms for the pur-
pose of avengng old wrongs or making terri
torial acquisitions. Such state of affairs is
naturally productive of wars, standing armies
and kings. The doctrine of nationalities
means primarily peace and ultimately COM
monwealth-perhaps "the United States OF
Europe" that Enthusiasts dream about.