The herald., 1893-08-26
GRArIruDE-As TO MEN AND NATIONS.

the most certain way to acquire the er
, nifty of nation 10 not to render it som
signal favor. Thus. in the case q
France and Italy, We find that the italian
hate the French with an intense ardol
We lay little stress upon the affair q
Aigues- Mortes, which was more Q 70,
between hostile workmen than any
thing else. There 10 no evidence what
ever that any intelligent Frenchmel
sympathized with their misguided fel
low countrymen in their assault on thes,
Italian workmen. On the contrary
all the Indications are that the en-
tire people of France repudiated the
brutality Of their hot headed brethren
OF the Depa rtment of the Garde, nnG
though the French government has been
greatly censured for it's dilatoriness,
there is every reason to believe, that the
incident was sincerely regretted. The
smehde honorable was Immediately ex-
tended in the most cordial spirit.
When 1t comes to recent transactions
in Italy, on the other hand, there is an
entirely different state of facts. The
people of Rome, Naples, Florence,
Milan, and other centers of intelligs nee
and culture in that country, seem to
have lost all moderation and good sense.
The attacks on the French embassy ut
Rome constituted an outrage of an unu-
sually grave character. such &c would
involve international relations. Then
one aspect OF the matter should not be
overlooked, and that is the open
adhesion of Italy to the Dreibund, q
political combination confessedly hostile
to France, and formed professedly for
the purpose Of directing the joint forces
of Germany, Austria and Italy against
France in the event of war.
The Dreibund has been a source OF
perpetual irritation to the French.
When Victor Emmanuel was king of
Italy-made 30 by the French legions
which fought side by eide with those OF
Italy at Solferino. Magenta and in other
splendid battles-he always retained the
liveliest sense Of gratitude to Napoleon
III. and to France, who had made
united Italy possible. With Victor
Emmanuel at the head of the Italian
kingdom the Dreibund would have been
impossible. 1t was true that italian
pride was wounded by the cession of
Nice and Savoy in compensation for these
invaluable services OF the French. But
it should not have been, for the cession
was entirely voluntary, and was based
On vote of the people Of the ceded pro-
vinces, there being no coercion whatso-
ever. ~
Probably no nation since the world
was created was under greater obliga.
tions to another than Italy was. to
France. The people OF France had con-
ferred upon the Italian people the price,
less boon OF naJlonaI unity, which had
scarcely even been .dreamt of since the
days OF the old Roman empire, and yet
the reward Of the French people was to
see the Italians welded into an indissol-
uble union with the greatest enemy OF
France. We are not attempting to make
any comment upon the merits of either
the relations which exist between France
and Germany or between both countries
and Italy. We are simply drawing at
tention to the absolute lack of national
gratitude as shown bv the history of
France and Italy since the day when
Napoleon ILL.,, Brennus-like, threw his
sword into the scale OF Italian independ-
ence and solidarity. and made Italy
puissant nation. The lesson of national
ingratitude is most instructive one,
and great chasm of race had to be
bridged to admit of its being enacted.
1t is OF a character to chill generous ar
dor, and to induce everyone to tie up his
purse and his sword rather than to give
play to disinterested and heroic efforts,
either for man or nation.
Italy, however, is by no means the
only nation that has plainly shown the
capacity of peoples to be ungrateful.
The United States has in its day fgdred
in that unenviable role. No nation ever
owed more sacred debt of gratitude to
another nation than the United States
owed to France in our war Of the revolu-
tion. She gave US recognition, money,
arms, heroes, military and naval, in the
persons of Laiaye cite, De Grasse, De
Rochambeau, and others without num-
ber. And yet, after France had con-
quered our independence for US. for
without her potent intervention in all
forms of efficacious energy, money,
munitions, soldiers, sailors, or what not.
we should never have conquered Great
Britain, we paid our illimitable obliga-
tions to France in a money settlement,
after our independence had been
achieved, at the rate of two and one-half
cents on the dollar, in silver. Not only
that, but we were very nearly splunging
into war with France when that coun-
try was in the throes of her own revolu-
tion. Such war would have been like
parricide.
Notwithstanding our signal ingrati-
tude, the French people still keep up
their persevering friendship for us. The
Louisiana purchase, made possible by
the friendsnip of the great Napoleon for
the young republic of the United States,
was acquired by Mr.. Jefferson for the
beggarly sum of $l5,O00,00O. This in
volved extensive and invaluable por-
tions of the northwest territory-a re-
gion many times larger than the original