Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-07-11
and the Swiss troops march to our
massacre! We have but me recourse

massacre! We have but one recourse
to defend o~urselvesl" As
Teuton soldiers charged the pro-
sought to hold the French Guard un-
der arrest in barracks; regiment after
regiment OF boche hirelinss were
aligned to the Field Of Mars. All
were of no avail in the storm which
swept over Paris. and on to the Bias.
tile which fell. before the attack of,
months the crime-steeped fabric had
been demolished, and in is stead
now stands q noble column recording
the deeds done on July ~, 1889.
Although the massive walls Of the
Bastille yielded to the crowbars of
the wreckers. the spirit which they
represented was kept alive by the in
trail Powers. The King, pretending
to accept the new Constitution. was
still under the spell of Teutonic im-
perialism. When he tried to escape
across the border>to hostile Germany
q Prussian army ofncer arranged the
details Of his flight. and obtained the
Baroness de Korf. who was in reality
the governess Of the royal family,
posing as the employer Of . kingly
valet and a queenly maid. A German
squadron Of horses dashed twenty
four miles in q vain effort to rescue
the King and Queen from the author
tiles at the French town Of Varnnes
and to bear them beyond the River
Rhine. In a communication which
he left at the Tuilieries, it will be re-
membered that Louis XVI. made it
only too clear that he was on his way
to array the forces Of Hohenzollern
and Hapsburg against his own coun-
try.
The Reign Of Terror followed on
the reports that the Prussians and
the Austrians had violated the terri
tory of France and the insolent mani
festo Of the Duke of Brunswick,
cousin Of the Hanovertan ruler of.
England, warning the struggling ma
ton that all soldiers who fought for
its liberty would be condemned. The
taking of Verdun,. whose command
ant committed suicide rather than
have the disgrace of surrender. the
march Of the hordes Of the Huns OF
those days through fair Champagne,
ip6amed the public mind and brought
on the terrible excuses of the Com
mune and the execution of a King
and Queen. who were waiting in their
palace to be succored by the enemies
Of France. The Prussians were
stopped at valmy for the time being,
but in the years to come, the Land of
the Fleur de Lys was to be baptized
in blood and fire before she was en-
titled to the Tricolor. Az she did
more than q century ago, she seeks
now, with the aid Of her allies. to
hurl back the barbarian invader from
her fields and to break his power for
all time. ~
Feudalign. driven from the soil OF
France when the drawbridge was
lowered yer the ancient moat Of the
Bastille, continued to flourish on tho
banks Of the Danube and the Rhine.
Germany remains to this day a med
iaeval state with a modern veneer; a
Moyen Age land surfaced with sci
ence. .
The days Of her Teutonic knights
and margraves have passed, but she
still summons her subjects t. war at
the will of. her ruler, Just as the
powerful leaders of the tenth century
did. The subject is the vassal of the
state and the war lord, and must
serve with the peril Of his body when.
ever called upon by the powers that
be. The trappings of monarchy still
remain, and the limitations Of the
power Of the Kaiser are few. The
favors which are bestowed upon Ger
man Kings and Princes still are based
upon the ability to furnish cannon
fodder; and men of lesser degree are
kept content by orders of the Red
Eagle, in lieu of f1efs.
The illiberal creed Of the Middle
Ages was exepplified in the Bastil1e
Of old, for many of it's prisoners were
those who had written too frankly of
the conditions Of their country. The
monarchs Of a feudal France impris-
oned scores Of the pamphleteers of
heir day in the stronghold in the
Faubourg st. Antoine. The German
attitude toward the. press is a reflex
Of the same a
.One outcome of the present war
may be that the masses will them
selves join in a movement to ltberate
their land from the medieval Bas-
tile Of the boche. The efforts of the
men Of forty-eight in the Central
Powers, which sent so many of the
ablest IONS Of Germany and Austria
into exile, showed that there were
once heroes who could rise against
their oppressors. T#
.r LES.