The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1886-04-01

Correspondence of the journal.
BERLIN, Feb. q, 1856. Every week the
Journal comes to us like beam of sunshine
into this dreary climate, and it seems none the
worse for its long trip across the water, or be-
cause its news is already fortnight old When
Wednesday passes and it does not arrive, |
somehow feel that the editor has sighted me.
though how the two things hang together, |
cannot tell. 1t is strange what an interest for
the most trivial home affairs Il long absence be-
gets i'll one. | read with absorbing interest
how VIM. 0. of Knox, has sold his two-year-
Old colt; how in Prospect Mr.. Ps COW makes
ten (J pounds of butter day; how Mrs. Q. of
Stockton, is the oldest person iii town; and
hundreds of other things that would at home
scarcely have attracted attention at all, are now
read with as much pleasure as Il Speculator
takes when he reads of an advance of stocks in
which he has largely invested. Outside of the
fact that it is home news, it is really refresh
ing to see a newspaper once ill a while that
takes notice Of common people, and which is
not devoted soul and body to kings and princes.
The common people here receive very little no.
tce from the newspapers, but the smallest
item of court news is eagerly sought for, and
eagerly read.
Everything is old here. The city is Old, the
Emperor is old, and even the children on the
streets bear the marks of age. Consequently
everything goes slowly. Nobody hurries, and
although there is Il vast amount of business
done in Berlin, there is none Of the rush and
turmoil of our American cities. Policemen
stand at the corners of the principal streets to
check the over-haSty travel. They know moth
ing, and no who has had occasion to ask
them a question will attribute any knowledge
to them. My experience teaches me that in
our American cities the policemen know all
about the city in which they live; but those in
Germany refer to their book upon all occasions,
and firmly believe that if one should lose hi,
book it would be difficult for him to tni his
way home.
Germany seems to me to be the beer-,lrnkcr's
paradise. 1t is said that England consumes
more beer per- capUo than Germany, but that
seems impossible unless every person there is
hollow to the ends Of his toes. Recently at IA
kueipc. when eight hundred students sat at
the tables, the walters reported ten Thousand
glasses of beer drank during the evening.
These glasses are not ordinary tumblcrS at all,
but contain at least Il pint.
The immense consumption of beer does not
prevent the use of stronger drinks, for in pro-
portion to the population, Germany consumes
more of the ardent than any other nation.
Temperance, as we understand it, is wholly in
conceivable to the Germans. They firmly be
licve that beer is good for their health. and
they reason as follows: If one glass of beer
will do one good, ten glasses will do ten
times a> much good.
No one knows how to prize American customs
| and liberty until he has visited Europe. 1t
used to be said of the United States that there
was no church west of Cincinnati, and no God
west of the Mississippi. There are certainly
some churches here, but whether there is any
God is a question:
The power of Germany has increased inn
mensey during the past tv enty years. the NUM-
Der of the inhabitants has increased one half,
and the pride of the people is unbounded
Since the Franco-Prus>ian war, they have come
to think themselves invinciblc and are not at all
modest in saying so. They claim to be the first
nation in the world in military power learning,
and civilization. The only thing that injuries
Germans pride is to tell him that there is one
State in our union larger than the whole of
Germany.
With the same system of oppressive taxation.
| we could support an army large as the en-
peror'S, and we cou}d build Il navy in wear
that would rival England herself.
In learning, Germany certainly leads the
world, though France is an ambitious rival. |
| am told by one of the publishers here that
| eighteen hundred volumes of new books appear
| annually besides innumerabc pamphlets and
essays, enough to stock the new Belfast Ii
! brary
The boaSted civilization, however, is Il myth.
| There is tant of barhariSm in everything
| German, the during. the dress the disregard
! of the Sabbath. the inSatiatc love of everybody
| to lord it over his interiors, and, might add,
| the language itself. If civilization means the
| culture of the heart, the perfection of the idea
of liberty, and the elevation of the masses. then
| Germany is certainly not its chosen dwelling
| place.
| am never ashamed to compare my country
with this, and have reason to be proud Of its
| greatness. The only thing that brings blush
| to my check is to be asked why the Democratic
| party is triumphant there. That | cannot en-
| plain. and can only sigh and hope for the fu-
| turc. }. f. CLARKE.