New-York tribune., 1871-01-11
THE ACTUAL CONDITION OF FRANCE AND
HER POSSIBLE DESTINIES.

tIlbuted TO give an eSpeclal OI hale anu
fury to the present war is the Machiavelian hy-
pocrsy with which it prepared by the Prussians
against the French For 20 years. with that careless
candor which is one of the most prominent-and
most excusable-faults of the Gallo race, we have
been happy to receive the Germans fraternally, and
even to invite them among us. They lacked little
Of being considered and treated, throughout France
as citizens of the country They were found every
where well established in every grade OF society
Our workshops. dwellings, our hearts-eyery-
thing was open to them. They lived, reared fanli-
lies, accumulated fortunes, more safely and more
agreeably among MS than they could ever have done
at home or anywhere else. We may almost say that
frequently, other things being equal, when there
was question of well-paid positions the Germans
were preferred to the French.
They had made for themselves in their journals
and their books such reputation of honesty, of gen
tlcness of pure and patarchal morals OF tolerance
of candorl Never did mortal race, have under
heaven such a fame. We saw them through Goethe,
through Schiller, those great lying magicians All
their girls were to us Gretchens. Their soldiers aP-
peared TO u.s. barring the leather helmets, so many
Goetz Won Berlichingen. There seemed to us, IN
each of their sovereigns certain mixture of burger
rood-noture and of chivalrOus politeness. 1t was
absurd evidently, but it was perfect.
Nevertheless installed in our houses, our Kitchens
our posts. our telegraphs railroads, in adj
ministrative bureaux, in our journals-what were
they abouti Nothing wrong, assure you. They
were innocently taking the dimensions of our doors
of our windows casts of our keyho)oo tle plans OF
or cities of our sewers, OF our fortresses making
oa,oloou. of our warehouses, of our dock-yards,
drawing M the minuteSt maps of every canton, and,
above ALL keeping all our cash accounts
In the mean time the prudent Minister OF the
King Of Prussia Count Bismarck, always gay, and,
like NJ Emile Olivier light-hearted," was casting
great guns manufacturing muskets, storing up
shells. bombs, and cartridges buying in France
everything he could find of pcrate of potassium and
nitro-glycerine; in fine, slyly preparing every
sort of destructive engine to prove to Europe and
America that making war upon France did not enter
a all into his plans for the unifcation of Germany
What this war has been, which, to use the express
sion Of Carl VOgt, one of the princes of German
science, is a crime against civilization what this
infamous war has been and what it is. the whole
world knows, including England. Never since the
breaking up of the Roman Empire has been seen in
Europe such flood of atrocities of excuses OF
brutal violence of arson, and rapine, and cruelty
1t would be necessary to go back to the invasion of
the Huns and the Vandals to find in history such
Crimes against humanity. These monstrosities were
pOSsibleOr could at least be admitted IN principle
in the time of the SOsOstrs and the Cyruses Since
the re giOn of Christ assuming as Its mission the
amel0ration of morals, has established itself IN all
the countries of the earth, they seem to us like
abominable anachronisms They shock all human
sentiments-charity as well good sense. They are
as stupid as they are horrible. In one word, they
excite as much contempt as horror.
1t is in vain to deny to explain, to discuss iii at
tempting to extenuate the lamentable effect pro-
duced 10y these savage proceedings-it remains new
ertheless proven that even if some of them have
been exaggerated as would necessarily happen in
such moments of tumult and of popular passion, the
greater part of those which related unfortu-
nately only real This pillage of public and pri-
vate treasures this burning of houses this shooting
Of peaceable citizens this saughtering and vo
latOn of women, this bombarding of open tOwns-in
fine this great country hitherto prosperous, now
Tavaged, robbed, trampled, and burned, monuments
destroyed and rUned-all this bears witness loudly
against these modern barbarians And when Count
Bismarck, with that well-known cool and devilish
gayety of his defends himself from the charge of hav
ing said that he wished to reduce France TO the rank
of a secOnd-class Power, he commits simply mOnu-
mental naivet6. For in their style of making war;
worthy of Mozambique, the Germans have conducted
themselves like the band of Cartouche in the ell
Yirons of Paris in the last century
Another trait of candor! When one boasts of the
intention of reducing a city like Paris by famine
Il
of humanity, but merely little conscience-it is
scarcely decorous to Europe that when Paris
is allen it will be impossible to feed its inhabitants
even for day. Tiberius, Caligula Claudius have
done nothing like this. Let the King of Prussia take
'ticei In such case, if King respect in himself
'v man, he will shut up his Minister, as
danE ,rols uanInv, az on. try 10 take Paris
otherwise than by famine, or not take Paris at all
admit frankly that this stupid and fratncidal
war which can end in nothing less than the ruin of
two great nations was declared by the Imperial Gov
efumen under the most futile pretext. If this Gov
erliment which had no interest in war, which was
not prepared to make it, which knewthe reports OF
the Projects are there to prove tthat the country
did not want il, if this Government say, had had
n single atom Of common at the time of the
Uobenzollern question, it would have said to the
SpaniarGs ..,,
There is presented to you, who are our neighbors
and our friends an unexpected occasion for adopting
immediately the logical and detntive form of gov
eminent which all peoples destined to make the
trial Of one after the Other-the Republic, the only
one which is capable of putting end to the long
anarchy from which your noble country suffers. You
prefer TO make new and almost ridiculous trial Of
the monarchy. And in place of choosing King
among yourselves. at least of seeking him III the
Latin race of which you are one of the gores, you
are simple enough 10 look for a Prussian, man who
has no relation with you either by origin, or by
Manners OF by education, or by language, OF by
his aptitude or by his aspirations or his tastes-by
anything. in word and who, having no antecedents
having never done anything, having therefore no
merits to recommend him, except that OF having
been brought up to play the part !of kinget by M'
DE Bismarck, could not offer you the shadow OF a
pledge of security. Well, take him, then Place HIM
on the throne Of Charles V. And much good may he
do YOU. As sor NJ ,yo rsoord this action from such