The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-07-21
THE DRIFT OF AMERICAN SYMPATHY.

Like rats, Oft bite the holy cords atWan
Which are too intrinse { unloose"
THE DRIFT OF AMERICAN SYMPATHY.
From, the Baltimore American
The sympathy of the American people, it is
already very clearly indicated, will be strongly
on the side of Prussia during the pending
war, and, if the struggle should be a pro-
longed one, We have no doubt that this sym
pathy will be demonstrated in every way
short of actual interference in the conflict.
The prevailing sentiment of this country
will, in fact, be as unanimously in favor of
Prussia as was that of England in favor of
the Confederacy during the Rebellion; but we
shall not, like England permit our ports to
be used for the fitting out of piratical cruisers
to prey upon the commerce of either of the
combatants.
There are several reasons for this drift of
American sympathy altogether towards the
Prussians in a war which has neither in It's
origin nor its avowed end any question of
principle, but is altogether in the interest of
the perpetuation of dynasty and the ag-
grandizement of an empire. The first of the
reasons is the general conviction of all intel
Ggent minds that Napoleon is the aggressor:
that he has throughout sought cause of quar-
rel; that he had made up his mind for war,
and that the candidature of Prince Leopold
for the Sanish throne was the mere pretext
adopted for the carrying out of prede-
termined purpose. Had there been no va
cant throne in Spain, and no Prince Leopold
aspiring to fill it, the war would still have
come The result of the PleJtscite settled
that and there has perhaps been no moment
since the people Of France thus confirmed
the Napoleonic dynasty that the Emperor
has not been resolved to initiate the
elder Napoleon in becoming the bully of
Europe. The aviditY with which he seized
upon the selection of Prince Leopold as King
of Spain, and the tenacity with which he has
refused to be appeased when that German
prince was withdrawn, proves this as clearly
as anything can be proved that depends
merely upon the caprice or policy of an
autocratical sovereign. Against such pre-
tensions as the Emperor has set up of making
war, not because Germany desired to give
King to Spain, but because the King of
Prussia refused in advance to pledge himself
that no German prince shall hereafter be-
come candidate for that vacant throne, the
civilized sentiment of the world and espe-
cially of Americans, must protest.
Another influence that will most potentially
effect our sympathies is the presence among
us of large and influential German element
"a people assimilating most heartily with
our institutions, and receiving all the i'm
pressions of American progress with readi-
ness, and in their turn exercising powerful
and almost everywhere present direction over
the popular mind. This German element,
though true in its fealty to this country,
naturally sympathizes, and is already showing
it, with the Fatherland in its hour of trial
and Americans will not fail to respond
to that sympathy, and will join heartily
in the demonstrations through which
it is made manifest. The position
of Prussia towards this country during
the rebellion will also not fail to be remem-
bered. Throughout that time, both
at home and abroad the weight of German
sentiment was on the side of national unity
and the Government. At Berlin our repre-
sentatives met ready sympathy and eour-
teous treatment that was extended to them in
no other European capital save st. Peters
burg. At home German naturalized citizens
reinforced our armies, and gave to the Gov
ernment the moral aid of their vote. France
was at that time our most open foe, and Eng
land our most insidious enemy. England
shut her eyes whilst cruisers were fitted out
in her dock-yards and sent to sea to destroy
our commerce. France negotiated for the
of the Confederacy, and, had
she been successful, would have
brought us into collision with foreign nations,
and added the terrors of foreign war to the
already almost unbearable burthen of disas-
trous civil war. These are things that cannot
be easily forgotten, and even were Prussia
! less in the right than she incontestably is,
would impress us most warmly in her favor.
AS it is, she will have in the struggle that
now awaits her the open, avowed sympathies
of the American people, and if she comes out
of it triumphant and successful the rejoicing
throughout our land will be scarcely less
earnest and enthusiastic than that along the
banks Of the Rhine and in the cities and vii
| Iaoes of Garmanv