LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
PUBLIC FEELING IN GERMANY.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:]
Siri„—If war in general, and the present imminent war in par- ticular, were not such a dreadful calamity, I should say it has been my "good fortune" to spend the last fortnight in a water- ing-place which few foreigners frequent, but where Germans from all the corners of the " Vaterland "crowd together. I had the opportunity to converse with and to observe men of all condi- tions, politicians of the old and the new regime, grey generals and foppish lieutenants, merchants, and ladies both old and young ; and now I have passed through villages in the plain and among remote bills. Everywhere, almost without a single excep- tion, I found the same feeling ; at first, a great horror of war in general, mixed up with wondering surprise how a question of war with Germany should be raised by France on account of the Spanish throne. Then came an outburst of indignation against the French Emperor and his ministers, who work to retrieve their own sad blunders by plunging two countries, and probably all Europe, into a dreadful calamity. The news of the official declara- tion of war, at the very moment when peace again appeared almost secure, was received with becoming sadness ; there was, during the first days at least, no bravado, no idle boasting. But then the dogs were let loose, and the patriotic exultation has be- come so intense that I, a cosmopolitan by principle and also by position, cannot help admiring it. The excitement is wonderful among these quiet Germans, but what Macaulay said of the Prussians fighting at Leuthen is equally true in our days,— this excitement is shown after the fashion of a grave and earnest people. I still hope—almost against hope—and many hope with me, that we may be spared a sanguinary battle before the French rulers are brought to reason by the French themselves. If this does not happen, then, all I can say is, that the French run a terrible risk. Even if the French soldiers should at first bent the Prussian soldiers—and the chances are about even, I think, and hear—the Germans would by no means be conquered. They would not give in, and the war would at once become national,— nay, it is so already. The students of all the universities, North and South, offer in large bodies to enlist as volunteers ; the mer- chants and bankers subscribe money ; the peasants—I have wit- nessed it—who are called upon by requisition to bring their horses do so without the least reluctance. All the officers—even those who are sadly incapacitated by ill-health, and were urgently advised to drink the waters at least a few days more—went off on the spot with alacrity to join their respective corps.
Now, I, a Frenchman by birth, and most deeply attached to my native country, I ask myself,—how many young Frenchmen will voluntarily enlist during the war, if it should come ? I apprehend the number will be exceedingly small. With the exception of a few tawdry gamblers—the only Bonapartists out of France—every countryman I meet is absolutely of my opinion. The Germans go to war not because they wish to fight with France, but because they are forced into it ; but they prepare for the fight with deter- mination, and they will struggle with enthusiasm. I cannot tell who may be responsible for the calamity, whether it is Emile Offivier, or his master, or his mistress ; but, whoever it is, he commits a terrible crime against manhood, against Germany, and still more so against poor France.
One trait has greatly moved me. I have been much among people who do not know to what nation I exactly belong, but I can truly say that amidst all the furious exclamations I have heard—and they were both strong and numerous,—no one, except, perhaps, some drunken peasant or soldier, indulged in loud denun- ciations of the French people, although "Napoleon and his clique" came in for the most fiery denunciations. And when I told of the place of my birth, even young-fledged Prussian lieutenants forbore to wound my feelings with a delicacy which I acknowledge with the utmost gratitude. The bearing of all these men— whether gentlemen or artisans—is the bearing of a sober nation ; they will go to war with eager patriotism and cool decision. Are these virtues not a sufficient match for French impetuosity?
And even this impetuosity appears to be somewhat wanting. The Germans were convinced that the French Government were prepared to invade their country at once, before a single regiment could be opposed to them. Most awful rumours circulated every- where, and telegrams sent to the invalids from all quarters, from Berlin, Munich, and Wiesbaden, already spoke of hundred thousands of Frenchmen in the grand duchy of Baden, of the for- tress of Saarlouis takenby surprise, of intercepted communications, &c. There was a regular panic, a sauve-qui-peut of water-drinkers who despaired of reaching their homes if they delayed a single day. Well, five days have passed, and here we are, excited, but quiet, prepared for awful tidings of blood and slaughter, but surrounded by men who are, without a single exception, fully convinced that, happen what may, they will ultimately conquer, because they will be strong and unconquerable in their union.
And here I reach another point. Napoleon III, has now made a nation, or rather one nation, in quite a different sense from what was once said of Jefferson Davis. Undoubtedly, the Austrians would be glad enough to avenge the defeat of 1866. But, as two captains who fought at Sadowa told me, "The defeat of the Prussians would be the partition of Germany, the loss of the left bank of the Rhine,—and we will not draw our swords for such an end, rather against it." Last year, I heard, on this very spot, many Hanoverians exclaiming they would go to any extremity to get rid of the Prussians ; this year, they are silent and grave, whatever may be their aspirations or wishes. The Germans from the south state openly they must and will resist the foreign invader. Here, at Cassel, the former residence of the Hessian Elector, I have myself witnessed the scene, when the King of Prussia passed through the town on Ms journey from Ems to Berlin. I am bound in truth to declare that the enthu- siasm of which the papers spoke was real. The people saw in him no longer the King of Prussia, the conqueror of Hesse, but the defender of their national honour, of their territorial integrity, and they welcomed him as such.
Now, let the holder of the seven millions of ayes, who has two millions of noes (the truly fighting men) against him, ask himself whether he is not only committing an awful deed, but also a most stupid blunder ? I can easily imagine what my countrymen in France must feel, for I am terribly cast down myself ; I will not and cannot forget that I am a Frenchman, though I still remain
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