Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-16
BERLIN.
A Young NashVillian's Impress
siOnS of the German
Capital.

amused myself by peeplng still further int
| their customs, which was best done By
| dancing with the peasant maidens ''On The
| green" This is the sixth holiday enjoyed
by these people since my arrival, which wa,
| little more than a month ago. Queer
! people these-they appreciate these public
! days more than any other nation, and are
in fact, the only people who know hOlc to
enjoy them, though, Judging from the pro
! gress l have made, l think the Americans
| could sOOu,leaTn. The Germans all belong
/ to the Epicurean school Of philosophy, and
believe in seizing the pleasures Of the
! present day, for their motto is.
"Gather We rosebuds while We may;
Old time is still ahyiDg,
And this same flower that smiles to-day
Tomorrow will be dying"
If possible, this holiday system should
be introduced into America. 1t would
bring together the townsman and the
! cOuntTymaD, and however ClUmsily they
might enjoy il, the disposition to do so
would at least be a sign Of national con-
/ tent. Twas a-nOble sight TO see Turks,
Jews, japanese, French, Americans, and
other natiOnalities, all mingling together,
and seemingly as much at home as if in
their native lands. Here come, lured by
spells Of almost magic power, a great part
Of what the world contains Of intellect, of
thirst for knowledge, and, alas! too often
Of what it contains Of evil. Nor are the
attractive qualities OF the fair city more
strikingly exercised in any direction than
they are toward our great republic. To
this vast ''platZ' Of pleasure, where
every taste is studied, and every
want supplied, come the brain
weary workers from our institutions
of learning or of trade, in search Of rest,
the brainlesS squandereT of gold in search
Of enjoyment, the artist seeking for per
lection in his art, and the student longing
for new intellectual worlds to conquer.
Fro 4 the Hottest aspirations Of which the
soul is capable down TO the lowest needs
of our PeTishable frames, fair Berlin finds
d means TO satisfy all, the Gree, who pos
sesses all charms, and knows all spells,
lures them to her enchanted castle, and
bids them 20 a magic banquet, Whereat
-ach taste may find The dainty that it spe-
cially Graves. Well is it for those who, at
her table, suffer transformation into moth
ing less noble than the winged Pegasus,
soaring upward into the heaven Of Givinest
art; and woe 10 those who, beneath the
magic dTzu-hJ, only couch and grOyel in
true bestial form amid drained wine-cups
and witheTed garlands.
Among our CUuutTymen abroad the sad
dest Of speCtaCles is the dissipated Ameri-
can. By his side even shOddy becomes
respectable and ignorance pardOnable. Stu
pidity has this excuse % 1t IS inevitable and
InCurable. for even the resources Of mod
ern science have as yet GisceTued no method
by which q fool may be made wise man.
NOspeCial gift is required to enable one to
regard the laws Of common prOpriety, and
if such laws are worth observing at home,
they are ten times the better worth OBJ
serving abroad, for here ones evil dOings
cast a stigma upon the name Of the nation
Of which he is an unworthy member.
The people here have been considerably
aCitated lately about war, and good rea-
sons have they had; for if there is frequent
Is danger Of it when the cry is peace, there
can be little hope of continued tranquility
7.hen the air is nlled with wild rumOrs of
war from all quarters Of the continent. At
no time within half a century has
Europe been so disturbed with war
ike reports as at the present moment.
Many Of these reports, il is true,
are started in Berlin; but it is, Of
course, done with an object that you would
hardly understand, being so distant, and,
from them YOU probably infer that the
Prussians have the bugJeur Of a European
alliance against them, constantly before
their eve. AID really believe hat the whole
world is impatieHtly waiting 20 strike
crushing blow at their prestige and their
power. But, as far as / am able TO judge,
they are the people who desire another war,
and from the appearance Of their finely ac-
cUutred armies, they would certainly have
most interest in bringing it on.
Russia has caused considerable excite
meut in the last few days by calling for
division Of Turkey, and prOclaims that the
Christian neighbOrs # the Ottoman empire
should lhare the spoil. though Of course we
can guess 10 whom the lions share would
60. England will have a saysO about d.
vision, and if she and Russia measure
swords again, you may bet that nations
will feel the shock, even though red battle
strikes his foot in distant Turkey. III tell
you, all this war talk makes things look
mighty bilious and l could not help but
feel, few days ago, when l read the
Lies
"''NIid pleasures and palaces though we may
Be it ever so humble, there is no place like
home,
that there was more in them than l had be-
fore imagined.
l was so fortunate, few days ago, as TO
witness a German wedding. Having pre-
viOusly been informed that il would take
place at 10 O'Clock, l found myself at the
"DOme Kirche'' about that time, and after
Eaiting in solemn stiffness for an hour,
concluded that they were too fashionable
to suit me, and had Just arisen TO depart,
when in come the lady, leaning on the arm
of The handsome German whom she was to
make miserable. Following We're seven
couples, the ladies dressed in silks repre-
sentiug all the C0!OTs of the rainbow. This
vas a new thing, even to the Germans, as l
was told, and IS it may probably please
some SOOn-tO. be-married demOiseile of cur
CITY TO have her bridesmaids dressed in the
saQe manner, il may as well be told our
female friends that il is now the fashion in
Europe. The gentlemen were dressed in
party style-black dress coat and pants,
white vest and gloves, with Sr2yat best
suiting the complexion of tic WeaTef.
Right here, l will state to my ugly
friends that, should they find it hard to
mary Ct home, they had best come to Ger
many, where U-.-es can be had for 375
cents-the cost Of al advertisement.
But 10 the bridal couple. They we're
seated just IN front Of the pulpit with the
attendants around them, when the
preacher entered. Standing just in front
Of The pair, he preached them a twenty
minutes sermon. taking for his text, 81 and
nv house, we will serve the Lord 4" Among
other things, he told the bride that he