The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-07-07
THE PARIS COMMUNE.
HEINRTCH HEINE ON THE RULERS
OF THE FUTURE.
A Ha1f.Ful6lled Prophecy.

OF THE FUTURE.
A HaIf.Ful6lIed Prophecy.
An illustration Of the gift of prophetical IN
SIGHT, which has been often attributed TO
poets, is given by avery interesting account
bv "R. G." In the current number OF the LON
don Spectator of certain anticipatlons oy
Heine of the mad doings of the Paris COM
mune. ssR G." writes: 1t may interest some
people to know what Heine, the most gifted
OF recent Germans, on whom, according TO
Mr.. Matthew Arnold, fell the cloak OF Goethe
thought felt and predicted on the Commune.
His letters from Paris, written thirty years
ago to the Augsburger Allgemeine zeitung,
during his long expatriation, are not very
widely known in this countryi we accordingly
translate the following extracts from them:
PROPHETIC WORDS.
ssHad lived at Rome in the time OF the
Emperor Nero. and been correspondent Of the
;Roeotia Post, or of the unofficial journal OF Ao-
dera, my colleagues would not seldom nave
sneered at my having nothing TO re-
port on the State intrigues OF the Empress
Dowager, for instance, at my not even me1-
tioning the grand dinners at which the jewish
hiUG AHTlppd every SatutOny SAtSAe'AAAA ~N>~
Diplomatic Corps at Rome, and at, my con.
stantly speaking; and on the other hand, OF
those Galileau:, of that obscure gang which,
consisting chiefly of slaves and old women,
dreamt away it's vapid existence IN visions
and struggles, and was repudlated even 9y
the Jews. MY Well-intormed coyIerSerS S W0u,t ;.nn;
Of certainty have smiled particularly lroni-
i, cally if had perhaps had nothing better 70
relate of the Court fete of Caesar, at which MS
Gracious Majesty himself played the guitar,
than that a few of these Galueans were
smeared with pitch and set on fire, and tnus
illuminated the gardens OF the Goiden Ins paiace.
That was, inded, a very remarkable lllumlna.
ton, and 1t was cruel, thoroughly Roman jest
that the so.called obscalri had to serve as light
to the gala OF ancient vOluptuousness. But tne
lest was marred; these human torches scat
tered sparks at which the old Roman Worla,
with all its rotten splendor, burst into namei
the number of this obscure gang became
legion. Caesars legons, in their struggle with
it, had to lay down their arms, and the whole
Empire, by land and sea, now belongs TO tne
Gaiileans. It is by no means my lntentloh
here to relapse into homiletical CONSIDERATIONS.
only wish to show by an example IN What
triumphant manner the distant future might
Justify the predictions with which have often
spoken of a little congregation that very nke
tie Ecclesia presSa of the first century, Is at
present despised and prosecuted, but Wnlcn
Is spreading propaganda with q Warmtn
of faith and sinister spirit OF destruction
that also recall the Galileans' beginnings. |
mean the Commune, the only PARTY IN france
worthy of earnest attention. The confession
Sthat The future belongs to the Commune:
Il make it In tone Of fore5oding and
of the greatest anxiety, which is not, alas, by
any means, a mask. Truly, only with lear
and trembling can think OF the time when
these dark picture-stormers shall attain en-
pIre; with their horny hands they will break
eli rhlo q 0pQr tn nv nearGs
they will shatter all those fanclful playthings
and pewgaws Of art which poets loved so
much: tney will cut down my laurel groves
and plant potaroes there; the lilies, which
neither spun nor toiled, and yet were as gor-
geously arrayed as Solomon in all his glory,
will be uprooted from the soil OF society, a. ua.
less, forsooth, they take splndl" IN hand;
the roses, those lazy brides of the nlghdngales,
Will incur the same late; the nlghtingales,
useless songsters, will be expelled; and, ah !!
Inv Book of Songs will serve the grocer tor
paper bags to pour coffee or snuff Into Tor the
old women Of the future Nevertheless,
frankly acknowledge TINS ~ same me ;Itares3s G9@
and inclnations, exercises spell on my
soul from which cannot free myself; two
voices in its favor rise in my breast; TWO
voices that will not be 'silencsd, which per-
haps are, after all. only diabolical insdgations
but, be that as 1t may, they master me: and
For the first of these voices is the voice
of logic. The devil is loglcian,' said
Dante A horrible synogism entangles
me, and if I cannot refute the pro-
position, AL men have right to eat, Then
am forced to submit to all its consequences.
When reflect on this run the risk of losing
my senses; see all the demons 9: truth dane
Ing round me In triumph, and at last the high
sonled despair of my heart selzes on me, and
cry out, 1T is tried and condemned long
since, this old society. Let it have It's due
Let this old world be DESTROYED, IN which IN
&prQsSered 80 famously, in Fliea man was
i,reyed upon By man! Let them be utterly
oyerthrown. those whited sepulchres on which
falsehood and fragrant Injustice sat entEronedl
And blessed be the grocer who will one day
make bags out Of my poetry to pour conee OF
snuff into for the good, honest old women VINO,
in our present unjust world, would have to go
without these luxuries. Fiat justttid, pereds
n,undtLs The second of the commanding
voices that held me prisoner 3 still more pow
ertul and deyilisn than the first, for It the
voice ofhatred, of the hatred bear to party,
of which the greatest opponent Is Communism.
and which, therefore, Is common enemy OF
ours. speak OF the National party IN Ger,
many, those false patriots whose patriotism
consists only in stupid aversion to foreigners
and nefghboring nations, and who daily pour
out their gall on France especially: all my Life
long have loathed and combated them, and
now that my sword is sinking from the grasp OF
dying man, I feel comiorted by the conviction
that Communism, which will fnG them the
first thing in its path, will give them the coup
de grace; and by no blow with club assured
ly, but by simple kick, the giant will crush
them, as one crushes wretched worm. That
will be its first step. From hatred to the rep
reseutatlves of patIoRalism. I could almost
feel affection for the Communists. At all
events, they are no hypocrites, with religion
and Christianity constantly on their lips; the
Communists, In truth, have no religion (no-
body Is perfectly the Communists are even
atheists (Which certainly is great SIM but
they acknowledge as chief dogma the most
absolute cosmopolitan, universal love for
all peoples, on equality of possessions, and q
brotherly relation of all men, the free citizens
of this earth. This fundamental doctrine is
the same as the Gospel once preached 30 that,
In spirit and in truth, the Communists are far
more Christian than our so-called patriots,
those narrow-mlnded champions of exclusive
nationalism."
A.THIERS.
Heine hits on the Yendome Column as the
first victim to Communlsllc fury, and speaks
of N Th,aro in what spemS alm0at DrOnhetiC