Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-12-05
CARL SCHURZ.
Interesting Sketches or Foreign Life,
Politics and War.

Interesting Sketches OF Foreign Life.
Politics and War.
The Past and the Future-Germany and
the United States.
Carl churz, in his recentlec ture named
the two wars, the civil war Of the United
States and the war between Germany
and France, as the grand epOehs which
marked the decade between 1851 and
1871. The former proved hepermanen-
CIV and stability Of the United States as
the one great power Of the Western
hemisphere; the other established Ger
many, lying right in the center of Eu-
rope, as the great and leading power Of
| the Eastern continent. Ii had, indeed,
been shaped into a powerful nation il
| 1866, when Prussia overcame Austria
and formed the North German COnfed-
Grafton; but nobody thought the exist
ence of Germany assured until it had
grappled with its lifelong adversary,
France, just as nobody thought the per
manence of the republic Of the United
| States assured until it had passed the or
deal of rebellion and civil wal.
Nj. Schurz would not give US a de-
| tailed history Of the battles, marches
and sieges Of the great war, but rather
| Of the great causes which predetermined
the result, the character of Germany
| and the Germans, of France and the
| French. The former had never been IA
vOrites withthe world at large whatever
| they had or owned was acquired by hard
knocks. The American had hardly a
fair opportunity Of judging of the char
| acter and capacities of the German. He
sees him here under all the disadvan-
tages of having TO cope with a foreign
language and foreign habits. His great
popularity at home is his love Of the
true, and hatred Of all shams. The fam
lily, the Ource Of all that is valuable in
society, is recognized in all its worth
and dignity; the women are neither
strOng-minded o frivolous; the virtue
of the housewife and mother are priced
above all others. Duty is the great i'm
polling motive. In modern times the
Prussian has become the ruler of Ger
many. He is by no lei amiable;
rather conceited, self-cOnfident, even ar
rogant. But with him the force Of duty,
Of order, of earnestness in all pursuits OF
life is the strongest.
More thanthree hundred years agoPrus-
STA had adopted the reformation, and
had thereby set itself into antagonism
with authority; il had been compelled
to ally itself with modern thought, Il
had educated everybody. It shared with
a few of the Swiss cantOns and a few
of the American States the glory Of uni
versal education. A person who could
not write and read wa as rare in PTus-
STA as in Massachusetts. The universal
obligation of the army, embracing side
by side the nObleman and the peasant,
was itself a part of popular education;
andi if il did take two or three years OF
every young mans life for sO-called IN
productive pursuits, il made up for the
defects of early training with many,
and turned the awkward peasant youth
into the bold, upright, active and self
confident man.
But the German nation. with the
Prussians at its head, required q leaGer,
and this leader came; first the simple
noblema1, then the Count, now Prince
Bismarck. He was seemingly made OF
contradictions, but in these contradic-
tons lay his strength. In the diet pre-
ceding the revolution Of 1S4S, he was
known asa 'junker," a country Squire,
of the most reactiOnaTy caste. In sue
ceeding parliaments he yetsdefended the
extreme claims offs medieval aristOc-
racy and the divine rights Of kings.
The court took him up, appointed him
to office; he became Secretary Of the
Prussian Embassy, soon after Prussian
ambassador at the diet Of the German
sOveFeigns at Frankfort. He found good
occasion there 10 throw aside mis- preju-
dices. He was pitted at Once against
the power of Austria, and he soon found
that his power rested upon reaction.
Prussia would have to fall back on the
force of modern and progressive ideas.
Mr.. SchUrZ gave a very anus
ing anecdOte about Bismarck; how
the Austrian ambassador, to show the
superiority of his sovereign, received
him in shirt-sleeves and cigar in mouth, 1
and how he at once DOTTED his coat and
lit his cigar with great familiarity, thus
establishing the equality Of ranks be-
the two German powers. Soon
afterward be was made to put aside his
notions in favor Of the Old-fashioned
guild, when he wanted to replace q bro
ken engraving set in the wall, and the
Of Frankfort. recognizing the old
required him to employ a joiner
10 make a new frame, a glazier to putin
3 new glass, a mason to plaster up the
hole in the wall, and a house painter to
it overland he exclaimed, against
bis former self: "Hurrah for free trader'
From Frankfort he was transferred to
he embassy to Paris, thence 10 Peters
burg, thence he returned to Berlin to be-
come Prime Minister. He had to con-
tend with the most furious opposition Of
he people, for he broke down constitu-
ion and law, and the King-au old,
very Old King-had not always the
to sustain him. He was the
oest-hated man in Prussia. Shortly
after the war in 1866, when he humbled
Austria, an enthusiastic youth tried to
assassinate him, and no indignation was
then provoked by the attempt. But be
then said: "In 3 few months l viii be
the most popular man in Germany It
was the desire for the unity Of Germany
that then, as it had for centuries, pos
5essed the German heart, which was
bound TO bear him up. When the war
Of 1866 broke out, the soldiers almost re-
used to march; when the great battles
won which gave to Prussia the
leadership in Germany, Bismarck was
he acknowledged leader Of the coun-
ny.
Mr.. Schurz gave a pen-picture Of the
as he had himself seen him after
he Austro-Prussian war, also Of King
William, who wa sensible enough to
ihape his policy on Bismarck's dicta-
ion, and his strategy on the dictation of
The speaker then passed to the side Of
France. The French had for centuries
)een the pets Of the world. They had
n many respects deserved it. In poll
les, in literature, in the exact sciences,
hey had done their full share. But
hey had always fully exhibited their
I'LL merits. They were Ike a man who
exhibits his whole wealth in jewels upon
lis shirt bosom. Some Of those jewels
nay be pure diamonds; others may be
It was Paris, and the great cities, in
which the virtues and eXeellences Of
were exhibited to the world; it
Paris, also, in which the vices Of
were developed most intensely.
of Paris and the great cities,
wen the rural districts, the ignorant
md superstitiOus, having all their think
ng done for them by the Catholic
priests and the government officials. "A
government at all times
weighed upon France; no matter wheth-
sr called absolute or constitutional mon
arcy, empire or republic. How could
learn 70 govern nations as long