Year: 1868

i


cross the Mara! An exaggerated import
ance is attributed to this point when it is
made a question of peace or war. The
Main was passed before the Treaty Of


Prague, FOR after the 26th of August,
1866. with the view of repulsing the for
eign invasion that was then apprehended,


Bavaria, Wurtemberg and Baden con-
cluded with Prussia secret conventions,
placing under the direct command of King
William all their forces and armies. From
that date, the military union has been
fact, and it is the only one that can inspire
the neighboring nations with uneasiness.
Ga the Sth Of July last, another treaty
was signed, establishing economical unity.
The Zollverein is reconstructed on the
basis of an united Parliament, in which
Representatives from all parts of Germany
will assemble, and where decision arrived
at by majority Of them will have the
force Of law, and will not be at the mercy
OF the veto Of one State, that would en-
danger the union indispensable to the
material progress of all the others. 1t
was, undoubtedly, in view Of these Con-
ventions that the fourth article of the
Treaty Of Prague was eouched in these
terms The national bond to be estab-
lished between the Southern States and
the Northern Confederation, shall be reg
ulated by an ultimate understanding of
the two parties"


The absolute separation of the North
and the South has, therefore, never been
accomplished, and was never thought to
be, by any one who has ever taken the
trouble to read the text Of the Treaty of
Prague. A national bond lcH be estab-
lished between the North and the South
an offensive and defensive alliance exists
between them; the Prussian military sys-
TEN will be introduced into the South,
and in case of war its contingent of men
will be merged in the Prussian army; and
Conventions regarding coinage, and civil
and commercial laws, will soon produce a
complete uniformity. Knowing all these
facts. what is the great Importance to be
attached to the would-be barrier of the
Nam?


1t is certainty that the North and the
South will be eventually joined together
there is no doubt about it. 1t is the wish
of the immense majority of the popula-
tion on both sides of the Main. The recent
address of the Chamber of Deputies of
Baden embodied these sentiments in the
most emphatic manner: The German
nation will not find calmness and peace
until it has discovered the definite form
likely to hasten more complete organiza-
tion of the national bond between the
Northern Confederation and the Southern
States, which alone will give to Germany
the essential conditions of life and pros
perity. On the other hand, Europe will
never eujoy the full assurance of a durable
peace before the reorganization of Ger
many is accomplished on either side of the
Main, because German Unity is the guar
antee Of natural rights, the progress Of
peaceful civilization, and the necessary
check to the policy of conquest" ltis
very evident that the movement towards
Unity, more impetuous now than it has
ever been, viii not stop before an imagi-
nary frontier which seems to have been
traced rather as barrier to the conquer
ing ambition of Prussia than as an obstacle
to the wishes of the South.


1t may be interesting to be acquainted
with the parties opposed to a complete
unifcation: they are precisely all the ex-
treme parties.


In the North, the feudal party appre-
heDds a too intimate union with the
South, fearing that the Prussian genius
PreHSsenthWm-that Is to say, the spirit
of order, obedience, respect for the throne
and religion, should be weakened and lost
in the midst of the Southern people, ami
mated by democratic or ultramontane
tendencies.


King William is yet undecided, enter
tanning the same fears and apprehensions;
and yet he would be glad, as bis son inti-
mated, on the occasion of the 25th anni-
versary Of the renewal of the works Of
the Cathedral of Cologne, to lay the last
stone to the edifce which has been so
long in course Of construction" Wilhelm
l. must be in the same situation as Victor
Emmanuel, who did not see, without re-
gret, his honest and dear little Piedmont
merged in the great and lazy Italian popu-
lations


As to Mr.. Won Bismarck, he is not at
all impatient to hurry on this reunion of
all the German people, (at least he says as
much, and We can believe HIM, because it
is beyond doubt that the Liberal party
would receive from the South such pow
erful reinforcement as would cause the
failEre Of every absOIntist measure by an
enormous and compact majority. But the.
Federal Chancellor can not, for fear of de-