Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-04-11

difficulties and dangers, glow with the
same undying love of liberty and hatred OF
/ tyranny. indulge the same generous aspir-
| ations for intellectual and moral culture,
l breathe the same devotion to the princi-
| pies of social order and opposition to
everything tending to produce lawlessness
and anarchy. This truly sublime event,
the notification of large portion of North
ern and Central Europe, under one nR-
tional flag, under the protection, as hope
we shall soon learn, Of one free constitu-
ton of government, seems to me to open
new and golden era in the worlds his
tory, and is in itself an event that will in
all probability be recognized by coming
ages as among the most important which
has ever yet occurred in human annals,
and as fraught with immeasurable blessings
to the whole family Of man. Religious
discord, the fierce jealousies of local
chiefs, the want of convenient facilities for
social and commercial intercourse, as we'll
| as for the unrestricted interchange of SEN
tinlent and opinion by speech and print
| lng-these and numerous distractions
besides, to complete Germanic unity, have
been either now all removed, or are un-
derstood to be in process of removal, and
larger number of educated men and
| women will soon be recognized as be-
longing TO this new national organiza-
ton, than were ever heretofore associated
as members OF the same civil community
| or State in any age of the world. The in
fuence of such community as l have de-
scribed must indeed be prodigious, pro-
vided only that such wisdom and expanded
craftsmanship shall be displayed by the
present rulers of Germany, as the friends
ofhuman progress, on both sides of the At
lsntic are now confidently expecting at their
hands. Great and peculiar are the respon-
sibilities which rest upon these rulers; and
for one, rejoice in believing that North
ern and Central Germany, under the
new civil arrangements which are
now being set on foot, will speedily be-
come recognized throughout the earth as
the firm and vigorous upholder of popular
rights and freedom-the faithful protect
ress OF the peace of Europe and of the
world-the vindicatrix of all feeble nation
alities and all oppressed people against the
aggressions Of the powerful and the tyran-
ny of the merciless; bright and inspiring
exemplsr of complete civil and religious
liberty conjoined with the most unbroken
order and repose.
So much for Germany. Let me
offer few suggestions upon a
topic Of some delicacy. / saw, as
came hither this morning, an inscription
upon one Of the cars belonging to the pro-
cession, which l regarded as indicating the
spirit Of this assemblage: "GerD1Gn
Unity, and the Restoration Of France"
This greatly rejoiced me, for l saw in it
the evidence that this was no cruel and in
sulting triumph, but generous civic cele-
brRtion in which all were to testify their |
rejoicing that the evils of war were over,
and that there was prospect that even |
unhappy France might yet be re-
deemed from her present condi- |
ton of Unreasonable woe Such, |
certainly, Is my ardent wish, and |
am sure that so far from these two |
things being incompatible with each other, |
they are really altogether otherwise, and |
the future peace, freedom and happiness of |
Germany will be greatly aided by the en-
joyment of similar blessings on the part of |
that noble and heroic race who dwell west !
of the Rhine. All the patriotic fervor,
therefore, Of my eloquent German friend |
who has Just closed his noble speech may
be well cherished in the same bosom, side |
by side, with manly and |
liberal compassion for the vanquished |
people of France. Here Gov. Fo7te COM
mended warmly the love Of his natal land |
en- the part of Mr.. Jeup, as expressed by |
him, and quoted the vell-known lines of
Sir Walter Scott, commencing "Breathes |
there a man" etc.
hope there is no one here who sup
poses that the French people are at all re-
sponsible for this war, except so far as
some of them may be censurable for mo-
mentarily yielding to the seductive arts of
Louis Napoleon and the unprinci |
pied hatterers who surrounded |
his now fallen throne. know |
that Louis Napoleon and his slsvish devo-
tees have been lsboring assiduously, of |
late, to make the impression upon the |
public mind of the world, that he was |
driven into the war alone by popular |
clamor. This disgusting and unmanly sub
terfugs is not likely to avail him much |
among these who are at all familiar with |
the real facts, or who have even read the |
noble and exhaustive speech of Mr.. Theirs, |
delivered only a day or two previous to !
the commencement of the QuORddm En- |
peror's Ostentstious journey to Berlin, !
which, some way or other, he was never |
yet able to completes! The point is, really, |
scarcely worth discussing, and, on the |
present occasion, l shall content myself
with stating the following propositions, all |
Of which hold to be irrefutable:
l. He who is guilty of needlessly if |
volviDg his country in war for the gratif-
cation of his own morbid ambition, i s |
Justly responsible before God and man for |
all the blood which shall flow in that war,
and for all the devastation which may be |
psrpetrsted.
2 He at whose instigstion proud and |
sensitive people shall be prompted to in-
volve themselves in war, which, for the |
want Of adequate preparation for its
perils and difficulties, cannot but prove
unsuccessful, has no right to set up any
plea in his defence save that of idiocy or
insanity.
3. He, who after such a war shall have
eventuated in the ruin of his country,
knowing himself to be the guilty contriver
of it, seeks to cast the whole weight of
his own responsibilities upon his generous
and too confiding constituency, and
who, whether the luxurious occu-
pant of a palatisl residence upon
foreign shore occupies himself with dole
rous and unmanly winnings over bis
fallen dynasty" is far less respectable
than the Syracusan Dionysius when play
ing the pedsgogue at Corinth or Sancho
Panza bewailing the loss of his Barrata-
ran Kingdom.
SPEECH OF D. W. PEABODY.
d. W. Peabody, Esq, was then intro
duced, and addressed the audience in a
short and torcible speech in substance as
follows:
Mr.. President, ladies and gentlemen:-
Germans by birthright, Americans by
adoption, l hardly know in what terms to
address you at this stage in your proceed
ings. You have just listened to the elo-
quent speech of Mr.. Jeup in your native
tongue, and also to that distinguished gen.
tleman whose years of public service e1-
tend back to the best days of the American
Senate. Gov H. S. Foote.
Germany, represented by her leading
powers, was foremost Of the nations of
Europe in recognizing that principle which
the United States has always insisted on as
a cardinal element Of international law.
That citizen OF one country may lay aside
the legal obligations resting on him by vol
unfairly assuming the obligations OF CT l.
zenship in another country; but deep down
in the heart Of every intelligent man rests
the conviction that in feeling there can
never be such a thing as expatriation.
When your speaker turned to us and
said in English that you loved and yenera-