Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-11-05

The French af ars; il isl and the Ger
man "Wacht dam Rhein."


man "Wacht dam Rhein.''
Paris was the scene of great excite
ment on Aug. 10. 1892. News of the
defeat of French troops. sent out to
meet the armies of German defenders
Of hereditary monarchy at the frontier.
had reached the capital and the Jury
of the mob against royalty broke loose
over the city like a terrible storm.
Men and women, goaded on by fren-
zied agitators, gathered about the
Tuileries, the royal palace whose in
mates sought safety in fight while
the faithful Swiss guards retarded the
progress of the mob with the sacrifice
OF their lives. But no human power
seemed to be capable of controlling
the plebians of Paris on that fateful
day, and soon a motley crowd disport-
ed itself within the walls of the royal
palace such as had never before been
seen or heard there. 1t went through
the building like cyclone. leaving
cruel destruction in it's wake
Scavengers and ragpickers dressed
themselves in kingly robes. says the
Chicago News paraded through the
saloons and held mock court from
thrones which had been sacred to roy
atty. Men and women who for months
had had no food but the remnants
from the tables OF the rich reveled in
the contents of tho royal pantries and
wine cellars. Debauch was the order
of the day and royalty had to be dis
poiled of its glory TO furnish the trap
pings for the feast They were not
men and women any longer. The
sight of the luxurious surroundings in
which their oppre250rs and the friends
OF the nation enemies had lived made
them frantic with rage and turned
them into mad beasts, bent upon ruin
and desolation. The worst dregs of
Paris society made the almost sacred
precincts of the Tuilries resound with
a revelry whose principal programme
was the destruction of everything
beautiful and refined and the degrada-
ton of the home of royalty TO the
level of the lowest howell where vice
and misery abound.
When the shameless orgie was at its
height one of the young members of
the mob a professional musician
whose business it had been to enter
tain the audiences of low resorts with
ribald song and play espied beauti-
fully decorated clavichord whose tiny,
delicate design suggested the music of
the comic opera and the charming
dance tunes of the age of the stately
Yr1irrct f'oIrht lo,ro 1,o
opened the instrument and standing
before it hammered out the tune of the
"Marseillaise, then brand-new
composition. The mob, drunk with
frenzy and with the wine from royal
cellars joined the young singer in the
fiery, tyranny-defying words Of the
text The song of the revolution be-
came the death knell of royalty, and
its history became entwined with
memories too terrible to be ever effaced
by time.
The ''dawning of the day of glory"
which the Marseillaise announces
to the children of France was the
downfall of that royalty which had
kindled love of glory to make France
forget the misery to which royalty and
aristocracy had condemned her toll
ing millions
All Europe became terrorized be-
fore the use made Of royal and eccIes-
1astic heritage in the words and the
music of the 'Marseillaise. Never
before had music been used as q weap-
on against the throne or against secu-
lar or ecclesiastic aristocracy. Music
had been one OF the most loyal of all
the arts, and now it had become the
ally of the bloodthirsty revolution.
which did not rest until it had stepped
the soul of Paris and of France in the
blood Of royalty. Of aristocracy, of
priests and even of it's own devout
followers.
No wonder that with the revolution
the ''Marseillaise" also was put to
sleep. 1t was tabooed by all govern
ment AUTHORITY and in France it was
considered too dangerous monster to
be permitted to be abroad 1t was
sung in 1890 and again in 194S on the
barricades which revolution attempted
to build in Paris, but it was speedily
suppressed as soon as public order
was restored.
In July, 1870. the ''Wacnt am
Rheim," a song of German defiance
hurled against Gallo schemes TO de-
spoil the German people of the river
Rhine, and which had been sung me-
chanically for thirty years without any
particular effect made all Germany
rise in arms against France. Then
the people of the latter needed SIM
liar incentive particularly after the
defeat of the empire. The 'Marseil-
laise'' was brought out again; its ter
rible appeal to the sons of France to
..steep the soil of their country in the
foreign invaders impure blood" was
sounded once more but it had a pow
erful adversary in the German
''Wacht am Rheim," which aside
from the ''Marseillaise is the only
European national song not tainted
with dynastic loyalty. 1t succumbed
for a time but it proved it's old power
of creating terror during the days Of
the commune The republic, after the
suppression of the commune, wisely
took the ''Marseillaise" into it's serv-
ice and made it the official French
national hymn.
Sine then the "Marseillaise" has
male conquest after conquest. 1t was
given full sway at banquet where a