The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-08-11
THE LEFT BANK OF THE RHINE
From the Chicago evening Post.

~ "A ouPCAACldl SlduC6 at yGll6 map ma "
possibly sometimes lead to the impression
chat the Rhine is the natural, and that it
ought therefore to be the actual, political
boundry between France and Germany.
So. aeasual glance at the map might lead
q stranger TO imagine that the Hudson
River ought to be the boundry between
New York and New England But the
Germans would not tolerate an assump-
tions of this kind any sooner thar the
New Is Workers. Indeed, the arguments
against. IS derived from past history and
from the present state9of things, are
much stronger in the case of the Rhine
than of the Hudson 4.sR srs.easss bs..
The inhabitants fthe left bank of the
Rhine are, and always havJ been, Ger
mans. But the province called Elsass or
Alsace or Alsatia, which extends along
the left bank for, the distance of about
one hundred miles below Basic, in
Switzerland, was coded TO France by the
treaty of Westphallia in 1913, by way of
compensation Tor the services of the
French to the cause of the pretestants in
the Thirty Years War; This was the
first,as it is still the only, foothold of the
French upon the Rhine. sStrasburg is the
principal city of Elsass. It's population,
aiter two hundred years ! of French
domination, remains German almost as
much as its celebrated Gothic cathedral
was a free city of the German empire,
and as lch entitled to seat in its Diet.
Tue same may be said of Eve other
towns in Elsass, and also, of the fortified
town of Metz on the Moselle, in the
province of Lorraine, which was once u
part of Germany. 49, 49, 4 ssg
Following down the left bank of the
Rhine below the French possessions we
come to Spires, the capital Of Rhenish
Bavaria, otherwise called the, Pslatinate,
and then to Worms, in the Gland Duchy
Of Hesse Darmstadt These, old German
towns were imperial free cities, and in
both of them diets Of the empire were
held. Several of the emperors resided at
Spires, and nine of them. anoug them
Rudolphof Haps5urg, are buried in the
vaults of its cathedral Here, in 1929,
the decree of the diet against the doc
tripcsd OF the Reformers was passed,
which led toaa vigorous & protest on the
part of the minority, and hence then The
name of r.. o.estGnts. In 1891, al Worms,
was held The diet at which Luther APP
peared and made his celebrated defence
of himself before the Emperor Charles
the Fifth. as segs 49, - E.s,t..fs
3 Continuing the journey, we arrive at
the gairisoned tow Il of Mainz or May
eDce, the birthplace and residence of
Gutenberg, and the cradle of the art of
printing. The sArchbishops of Mainz
were powerful temporal princes, and
were first in lank Of the Electors of tbesI
German Esa2ire. Crossing the NaAe. at
Eingen we enter the Prussian pose, sions
Oh the west side of the Rhine, which are
composed = chiefly of territories that
belonged to the fArchbishoprics. OF Col |
ogne and Treves and the Dnchies of
Cleyes and Juhch, all of which were
fiefs of the empire. The towns of Bop |
part and Duren in this part of Prussia,
and also Cologne, with its German
Cathedral,) the largest and wealth1est
town on the Rhine, were imperial free
cities So also was ,Aix-la- Chapelle, or 1
Aachen, situated west of Cologne, on the |
borders of Belgium, renowned for its
its diets, its councils and cor
nations OF Emperors M Z /
Mention ought also, TO, be made of |
Bonn on the Rhine, the birthplace of |
Beethoven, and the seat of o furnishing
German university, where Niebuhr,
Schlegal Arndt and Dahlmann lived,
and taught, and where aLange, whose
Bible Commentaries are SO well known
in this country, lives and teaches. The
population of the Prussian, Bavarian and /
Hessian territories west Of the Rhine is |,
over three millions, and about i
,wo-s thirds Of these are subjects of Prus-
ia a,s8 aadey sgs4 - -. Il
y The foregoing statement, though Il
necessarily emeagre. and imperfect, will Il
erye to sdispel any illusions as to theIt
ofthe. French Emperor in
lis ambition to extend his conquests to
he, Rhine, and to explain the unanimity +
e the uprising of the Germans. They N
would as soon think of abandoning ,Bers RI
in or Leipsics to the, Russians as Of sur {
enderi..g CoIogneror .Mainz or Treves toll
he French. They have no central city Z
here is anything in the world which
hey regard as asacfeqly their own, it is |
he noble river and ifs fertile, valley, fill-d t
d with the ancient seats Of thdir civil /,
alton ard the monuments of their art lie
nd industry-the faithful chronicles of /
heir history-and !, they viii most as /
uredly fight to the last to defend and *
eep it from the French, as q man will II
ght to, defend his home and hearthstoneI {
gainst robbers. - - "a a. 80 In
A Massachusetts firearms firm has for>lI
7arded to General Grant at Long Branch II
medium. sized five. shooter pistol steel
richly engraved and iniaid
18th gold, and bearing in a monogram In
be- initials az. s. g." The Massachu-I o
etts coat of arms is carved on one side S,
t the ivory handle and the American Q
AGILE on the other This treasure rests K