Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-07-09

A French periodical gives the following
tween the Frenchman and the German,
and coming from Russian source, 1t is
not without significance at the present mo-
ment:
"The French aud the Germans have hat
ed each other for long time, but there Is
no resemblance in the manifestations OF
their natural hatred. II Is not character
istic of the Frenchman TO hate with endur-
ing, unbroken energy. He hates by fits
and starts, occasionally. When wounded
TO the quick, he loses all self-possession,
goes ahead, strikes, ravages, and kills.
But when the first outburst is over, he
soon recovers his equinimity and cares no
more for the German than If the latter
were not of this world. Not that be for
gets him or his hatred no but he does
not notice him. lie will not forget that the
German is a barbarian, q sort of wild beast,
but he does not notice him. He says, Let
him go TO the devill Let him live as he
choosesl
Quite different is the hatred of the Ger
man. lie hates without respite -systemat-
ically. He is forever anxious 10 play on
the Erbfeind some underhand, willy trick,
to oust him from his place, and put himself
into it. The Frenchman's hatred is a fame
that Of the German an inextinguishable
passion. With a Frenchman it is a gush-
ing stream-with the German relentless
malice.
Whence comes his malice, and at what
doaa ~ aim Ha navar cO, fasaae IL
him why he hates the French, and he will
recapitulate the wars of the first empire,
the suffering and humiliations endured by
Germany. Very well,' you say, but you
have revenged yourself; you are even.
Why do you still hate the Frenchman ?
Because he wants to steal our Rhenish
provinces the German used 10 say before
the war of 1870. 'Ifit were not so, what do
those tremendous fortresses Of Metz, Stras-
bourg and Belfort meant? But you also
have fortresses-Mayence, Rastadt, Ulm,
and many others y 'Ahl with us 1t is
quite different thing, he answered dryly
I'VE only mean 10 defend ourselves If at
tackled
To-day the German has taken Alsace,
Metz, and Strasbourg; he has secured an
open route to Paris, and he continues to
cry: we only want to defend ourselves
in case we are assailed.' In the meantime
lie thinks; IF only they would assault usi
We would not he as generous as we have
been in the first instance. Champaign
would then be ours, and we should get a
foothold in Burgundy
1t is clear that all the complaints of the
Germans about French ambition are so
many fables and falsehoods. II is not the
warlike ambition of the French which now
prevents the German from sleeping in
peace, any more than it was formerly the
tremendous fortresses of Metz, Strasbourg,
and Belfort. That is not the source of his
hatred. 10; it is envy. The German en-
vies the French, and this is what makes
him sothoroughly miserable and his hatred
so bitter.
The Germans have never forgiven
France for being crowned with glory in The
sight of Europe. They inquire, How did
the French come 10 win an unfounded ad-
miration? Are we not more learned than
theyf Have we not higher moral sense
We are neither frivolous nor a Dragging
peOple-whence does il come that il is not
we who have the supremacy All this is
maTifestly a misunderstanding. Europe
does not know the French let us unmask
them And on that plea they 60 on inn
peaehing France and bringing her to trial.
The procedure dates from the Empire, and
they carry it through the whole century.
They logically prove that the French are
ignorant, frivolous and braggarts-that
there is nothing substantial In them. In
M orality, that they are the most corrupt
people in Europe; as to their capital, that
it is the soil on which all vices are grated.
II is Babylon
Europe listens, and while seeming 10
agree with Germany, continues to subsist
as before on the heart and mind OF France.
Europe reads the brilliant and light French
literature, leaving German literature TO
specialists and scholars. II is French wit
which has the lead on every European
stage. The modern French Babylon re-
mains, as ever, the queen of taste and
of fashion, the fountaln-head or new ideas,
the grand centre Of motion, the place where
the whole world, without excepting the
mortal enemies of France, looks for life
and pleasure. In this respect the depraved
Babylon has always worked miracles. 1t
is said that in 1875 the Duke of Wellington
went 10 Paris with the firm purpose of Civ
ing the Parisians some good lessons in
morals but that hard and unbending pro-
motor of morality spent three millions
during six weeks stay in Paris. Blucher
spent four in one month, and some of the
allies even more.
But some people will ask, how is it that
The frivolous, ignorant, and Immoral
Frenchman exerts such bewitchery on for
eigners? The cause Of it is obvious. The
Frenchman is a man with a soul. He has
a loving heart; he is loyal, amiable, beney-
olent, cheerful. Foreigners are involun-
tarily charmed by qualities which they do
not lind elsewhere, and, flying from the
weariness which weighs them down in
other countries of Europe, they go to re-
cruit among the gleeful, jolly, mocking
people of France.