Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1871-02-17
From the independently.
THE FRANco-PRUssIA WAR.
BYL. MARIA CHILD.

4
/ impatient wien / hear the people say:
My sympathies were with Prussia at
| the begIHzf1Lg of the war; but my feel
/ iBgs have changed since she has zE0a-
/ aea France" That is precisely the
way the English aristoeracy, and our
own Copperheads, talked concerning
our War of the Rebellion They were
iDll of sympathy foT the South, because
i she was resisting invaders, they said;
entirely ignoring the fact that we had
no choice left but to besiege Rich
mond or have New York besieged.
Lord John Russell affirmed that the
south was fighting for independence,
and the North for empire" And
some among US manifest similar IN
fairness in deciding upon the merits Of
the contest between France and Prus-
sia. Some glance caTelessly at the
surface of things, and pronounce their
dietum without examination. Others
seem to be blinded by partisan feel
ing, which prompts them to hurrah
for everything done by what bears the
name of a republic. be it right or
wrong.
To my mind, it is plain truth that
| France, by indnlging her propensity
TO conquest, forced Prussia into this
war, and France. by her blind AFRO
gance, and her insane pride of old
military reOown, prevents the eessa-
tion Of the war.
This is no new game on the part of
| France. For more than a hundred
and fifty years she has been harrass-
ing Germany with unprovoked inva
sIOns, sp0hatIons. and rObbeTies
Louis XIV took fancy to add the
Upper Rhine Country to his domin
ions; and, as Strasbourg was the key
to the coveted region, he secretly sta
toned French troops in the vicinity
in time Of peace, and, while many Of
the inhabitants we're absent 1t Frank
fort Fair, they marched in and took
possession of the city. On the himsi-
est If pretexts, that corrupt king en-
tered into a series of wars with vari-
Gus German states, during which he
burned villages, leveled cities TO the
ground, pillaged palaces aud cathe
drals. broke open royal tomb to car
ry off the silver eofins, stripped the
peasantr5 of the last remnant Of food
and the last Restige of clothing, and
turned them adTift to freeze and
starve. When the French eomman.
der was demonstrated with for perpe
trating such 5arbarities, he replied !:
1t is the kings pleasure ); and
showed a list of thousand more
towns and villages that he was ordered
to destroy. This process went on for
nine years; and that was the way
France obtained possession of Alsace
aud Lorraine The people lest all
sense of justice in their in6olent pride
of conquest. They gloried in their
royal robbers aud called him Louis
Ae Grand. Their appetite grew by
what it fed on. Not satisfied with the
i provinces thus acquired by force, they
began to assert the doctrine that the
whole German Empire, as it was un-
der CharIenagne, belonged to Louis
Le Grand. But the death Of the King
of Spain was approaching, and Louis
wished 10 seize the opportunity to
take possession of that country: SO
Germany obtained respite. When a
treaty of peace was entered into, some
} indemni6cation was asked for the
many millions of property stolen or
destroyed; to which the French coOliy
replied: War has many evils. IF the
, Germans want satisfaction, let them
march into the center of France and
) conquer and plunder what they, can.
Several European nations entered into
league of defense against the French
mouarch, whom William the Third OF
! England declared to be "a disturbeI
! of the peace and the common enemy
l Of ali Christendom. They checked
: him IN his profigate career; aud at
last he died, and the world was well
!, rid of him.
About century later, there apeared
in France another ''disturber Of the
Ill
ChIistendom," We all know how be
ravaged Europe, dethroning king
1 slaughtering peasants, robbing cities
of their pictures and statues, and en-,
: riching himself by levying heavy con-
tributions wheresoever he would. The
? old desil to take possession of the
D beautiful Rhine Country was renewed
0 in him with redoubled strength. HI
D set himself to work to weaken Germa
e ny, by artfuIly exciting jealousies anC
riyalries between the states. He wa'
t never at loss for pretexts to make
= vars upon any cities or territories tha
Q he coveted. Ne pen can describt
= what Germany suffered at the hand,
D Of this military despot. There Wat
: no security for property Of life. Every
where the poor peasants were hyiDl
: from the fire and sword in his war
f path. He seized upon provinces, anC
: made them up into Kingdoms for hi
e relatives and favorites. Prussia wa
D dismau,led of all her territory between
e the Elbe aud the Rhnie, and b,
= marched into Berlin and carried OF
d what he chose of the. trophies and or
e naments Of the city. France gloriet
l. in her imperial robber, and surname'
il him Napoleon ks Grand. But, at last
~ noFfou, rfT
y Obliged to enter into a league of de
d Tense against him also, The rockies
& brigand was put under guard, anI
much of the stolen property was re
J. stored to those from whom he hat
y wrested it. And finally he died; AM
u the world was well rid of him.
= But the restoring of their stoieI
a property was regarded by the Frenol
l. as a humiliation, and it never cease'
e to rankle iD their bOsoms, The
l- longed to regain possession of th
Al Rhine, and to enter upon a new ca
J. reer of what they termed glory. 1
d about half century another NapOleo
appeared on the stage. and sought {
)f make himself popular by gratifyin
a this propensity of the French people
e Without any cause for war, he pro
d posed to them to invade Berlin
ID and they rent the air with their erie
10 of rejoicing. They set out upon thei
march, and began to renew the oil
le process Of taking German towns. Blu
,e the Germans had learned, by bite
e, experience, that it was wise to preseu
ii united front TO their common enemy
to They marched swiftly into France. i
Of order to keep their troublesome an
unscrupulous neighbors too much oC
ss | cupied OF home TO have leisure for in