The New York herald., 1874-11-27

j Dou6v0 IN tnelr COnOucJ we snail unu
another element for the maintenance of that
peace In which we have confidence" In other
words. while there is danger to the peace OF
Europe, while 'in the present state of affairs
on the Continent there is cause for anxiety"
no such cause can be found in the .wise for
bearance" and prudent magnanimity'' of
France. For France, according to this high
critic, has wisely forborne from resenting the
wrongs heaped upon her BY Germany, and
has submitted with prudent magnanimity'
to the humilations of her conqueror.
Prince Bismarck, fighting for the public
appreciation of the world, has met with
its condemnation. Those who have been
disposed to worship his star as the star Of sue
cess are silent. Nor do we see in the German
mind any of the former enthusiasm for the
Chancellor. 1t was wen enough to trample
upon Danes and Austrians and Frenchmen; to
violate treaties and customs and long-estab-
lished laws; to deal with the foreigner with
blood and iron. All this could be pardoned
as an evidence of love for Germany, and from
the conviction that SO great work as Ger
man unity could only be accomplished by
severe, pitiless deeds. But Germany does
not care to give her own arms to the rack and
her own feet to the boot. Bismarck could
send as many Frenchmen to Jail as he pleased
when he was master of Paris, but there can
be no real liberty in a country where citizen
can receive the treatment visited upon Count
Arnim. These are the thoughts that rest in
the German mind, and men ask, How can there
be liberty or peace where such things are pos
sble?
The truth seems to be that in Germany
there is a quarrel between two systems-the
Prussian and the German system. Bismarck
is a Prussian, trained in the school of the
great Frederick. The law of that school was
that when the King saw what he fancied he
should take it, for kings were kings in those
law, and who reigned rs the expression Of
Gods power and grace When Frederick de-
sired Silesia he seized it. This, as he after
ward confessed, he did 'for glory" And
yet he had no more right to Silesia than the
cutpurse, who in those days was hanged for
ulSAWdy IOUUcTyy udO W LID SVOlcA RO1O LIZ
desired part of Poland and he took it.
When Napoleon was ravaging Europe Freder-
ick's descendant offered him an alliance if he
would increase Prussian territory. When the
peace of Waterloo was made all that Prussia
craved was money and land. The war against
Denmark was for Holstein. The war against
Austria gave Prussia several duchies; that
against France Alsace and Lorraine-prov-
inces to which Germany did not have one
half as good right as England possesses to
the New England States; for, while the New
England States had only been free from Eng
land for one hundred years, Alsace and Lor-
aine had been free from Germany for twice
that time. Bismarck has followed in the
path of the great Frederick. His policy is
traditional with Prussia. The difficulty is
that Germany is not Prussian. A new nation
has risen up-a nation Of brave, clever, ac-
complished, truth-loving men, who do not
choose to be ruled by the whip and spur. In
the old times q Prussian king was wont to
kick his Ministers when they smoked tobacco
that did not suit him and to cudgel citizens
who would not build their houses to please the
royal fancy. The same spirit still lives, and
Bismarck is its representative as much as
Frederick in his palmiest days.
Against this principle Europe protests
Bismarck makes the mistake of the first Ma
poleon in forgetting that he is q man, after
all, and that while God reigns no mere man
can do more than q mans work. Success has
infamed his pride and ambition. The posi-
ton he holds cannot last beyond the life of
the old Emperor. To recede from it is to sur
render-to fall from power and drag his party
with him. The contest is between Prussian-
ism on one side and Germany on the other
between absolutism and nationality
the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries Ger
many will submit to unusual measures, just as
the United States submitted to arbitrary ar
rests during the war. But there is no war,
and the only danger to peace rests in the pol
ICY of the Minister of blood and iron Bis
marck, who rose like Wolsey, seems about to
fall like him. Much as men respect his
genius and honor him for his services to Ger
many, we cannot help feeling that his recent
policy is inimical to liberty, and that, should
he fall, it would be the fall Of stern, abso-
Lutte and crushing system.