Chapter VI: Appendix: (A). Page 121 (2)

“I adhere to the Declaration of Independence. If Judge Douglas
and his friends are not willing to stand by it, let them
come up and amend it. Let them make it read that all men are
created equal except negroes. Let us have it decided whether
the Declaration of Independence in this blessed year of 1858
shall be thus amended. In his construction of the Declaration
last year, he said it only meant that Americans in America
were equal to Englishmen in England. Then, when I pointed out
to him that by that rule he excludes the Germans, the Irish,
the Portuguese, and all the other people who have come amongst
us since the Revolution, he reconstructs his construction. In
his last speech he tells us it meant Europeans. I press him a
little further, and ask if it meant to include the Russians in
Asia; or does he mean to exclude that vast population from the
principles of our Declaration of Independence? I expect ere
long he will introduce another amendment to his definition. He
is not at all particular. He is satisfied with anything which
does not endanger the nationalizing of negro slavery. It may
draw white men down, but it must not lift negroes up.”[153]

Then, again, in another speech, made at Alton, the future President renewed his testimony as follows:--

“I assert that Judge Douglas and all his friends may search
the whole records of the country, and it will be a matter of
great astonishment to me if they shall be able to find that one
human being three years ago had ever uttered the astounding
sentiment that the term ‘all men’ in the Declaration did not
include the negro. Do not let me be misunderstood. I know that
more than three years ago there were men who, finding this
assertion constantly in the way of their schemes to bring about
the ascendency and perpetuation of Slavery, denied the truth
of it. I know that Mr. Calhoun, and all the politicians of his
school, denied the truth of the Declaration. I know that it
ran along in the mouth of some Southern men for a period of
years, ending at last in that shameful, though rather forcible,
declaration of Pettit, of Indiana, upon the floor of the United
States Senate, that the Declaration of Independence was in that
respect ‘a self-evident lie,’ rather than a self-evident truth.
But I say, with a perfect knowledge of all this hawking at the
Declaration without directly attacking it, that three years ago
there never had lived a man who had ventured to assail it in
the sneaking way”--

That is not my language; it is the language of Abraham Lincoln--

“of pretending to believe it and then asserting it did not
include the negro.”[154]

Lifted by the great cause in which he was engaged, he appealed to his fellow-countrymen in tones of pathetic eloquence:--

“Think nothing of me,”--

said he, afterward martyr,--

“take no thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever,
but come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of
Independence. You may do anything with me you choose, if you
will but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat
me for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death.
While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I do claim
to be actuated in this contest by something higher than an
anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and
insignificant thought for any man’s success. It is nothing,
I am nothing, Judge Douglas is nothing; but do not destroy
that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of American
Independence.”[155]

How apt are these words now! “Do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of American Independence.”

Then, again, as he was on his way to Washington, stopping at Philadelphia to raise the flag of his country over the Hall of Independence, he uttered these pathetic, though unpremeditated words:--

“All the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so
far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which
originated in, and were given to the world from, this Hall. I
have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from
the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.

…

“Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon that basis?
If it can, I shall consider myself one of the happiest men in
the world, if I can help to save it.… But if this country cannot
be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say
I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender
it.”[156]

And yet that is the principle which the Senate is now about to give up,--that principle which Abraham Lincoln said, rather than give up he would be assassinated on the spot.

Then, after adding that he had not expected to say a word, he repeated the consecration of his life, exclaiming,--

“I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if
it be the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by.”[157]

Sir, that is enough.

Mr. Sumner’s amendment was rejected,--Yeas 14, Nays 30. At a
later stage of the proceedings he renewed it, when it was again
rejected,--Yeas 12, Nays 26.

At the same stages, an amendment in the following words,
offered by Mr. Warner, of Alabama,--

“_And be it further enacted_, That the Naturalization Laws
are hereby extended to aliens of African nativity and to
persons of African descent,”--

prevailed, first by Yeas 21, Nays 20, and then by Yeas 20,
Nays 17, and was adopted. A subsequent amendment, by Mr.
Trumbull, of Illinois, further extending these laws “to persons
born in the Chinese Empire,” was defeated, by Yeas 9, Nays
31. The bill as amended was thereupon passed,--Yeas 33, Nays
8,--Mr. Sumner voting in the affirmative.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY: ITS PAST AND FUTURE WORK.

SPEECH AT A RATIFICATION MEETING IN FANEUIL HALL, OCTOBER 15, 1870.

October 15, 1870, the Republicans of Boston met in Faneuil
Hall, to ratify the nomination of candidates for State offices.
The Hall was filled to its utmost capacity, and Mr. Sumner was
announced as President of the meeting. In its report of the
proceedings, the “Journal” newspaper of the next day stated
that Mr. Sumner, on taking the chair, “was greeted with almost
indescribable enthusiasm, and it was some minutes before the
audience permitted him to speak.” He spoke as follows:--

FELLOW-CITIZENS,--In opening this meeting to-night I am impressed by one thought, which I would, if I could, have uppermost in the minds of the people, so that they could not forget it at the coming election. It is the necessity of constant, incessant, persevering activity in support of Republican principles, and of the party which maintains them. [_Applause._]

And here let me say that I know no way in which Republican principles can be adequately supported, without supporting the Republican party. [_Applause._] There is no local issue justifying opposition to the Republican party, which, if it fails to do all that good men desire, yet does more than can be accomplished through any other political organization. Therefore do I say, Stand by the Republican party. Make it united and vigorous. There must be no hesitation, or listlessness, or desertion. [_Applause._]

Our majorities in Massachusetts are large, but so are our responsibilities. From the historic character of the Commonwealth, from the position it has occupied in the warfare with Slavery, and from its fame as the home of ideas, we cannot afford to be sluggish or indifferent; nor can we break up into disjointed squads. It is not enough, if we give a majority sufficient to elect our candidates; we must make the majority commanding, controlling, so as to be an example and a power in the land. Massachusetts ideas and interests are to be maintained and advanced, not merely here at home, but in the nation. Besides State officers, we choose at this election members of Congress, and a Legislature which will elect a Senator of the United States. Therefore must we regard our duties to the nation, the first of which is to make Massachusetts the bulwark of the national cause.

I know no good reason why Governor Claflin [_cheers_] should not be reëlected unanimously, or at least without opposition outside the Democratic party, which is against him more from force of habit, I take it, than anything else. As for others, who do not assume the name of Democrats, they can find no excuse of habit in voting against him. Then come the Republican candidates for Congress, who, like the Governor, are entitled to your best support. Faneuil Hall is now thronged with the constituents of Mr. Hooper and Mr. Twichell, [_renewed cheers_,] who know their services, so that my testimony is not needed. I will only say, Fortunate the districts with Representatives having the character, ability, and business capacity of these gentlemen. In choosing a Legislature you will not forget my colleague, [Mr. WILSON,] with his lifelong devotion to the slave, his hard work against the Rebellion, and his practical labors everywhere. [_Loud and prolonged applause._]

I would add one further word in reply to those who insist that the Republican party has done its work, and therefore may die. Nothing more absurd. It has done a great and ever-memorable work; but much remains to be done. It has put down a terrible Rebellion waged by Slavery; it has secured equal rights at the ballot-box and in courts without distinction of color; and it has reconstructed the Rebel States on the solid foundation of the Declaration of Independence. [_Applause._] Besides these heroic achievements, which cannot be forgotten so long as men throb in sympathy with human rights, the Republican party has provided homesteads for the needy; it has built a Pacific Railroad, binding two oceans together; it has by honest payment reduced the enormous national debt entailed by the Rebellion, and at the same time it has reduced taxation. [_Applause._] If a political party is to be judged by what it has done, then may the Republican party fearlessly ask your votes.

But there is another reason for your continued support. The whole work of Reconstruction and the establishment of Equal Rights is still disputed and assailed by the Democratic party. I might quote resolutions and words of orators showing how they still hold out. Repudiators of the National Debt, they would repudiate all that has been done for the National Union, and for that Equality before the Law which is one of our greatest triumphs and safeguards. [_Cheers._] This is enough. Until this new form of Repudiation is extinguished, there is need of the Republican party. So long as anybody assails the Declaration of Independence, the Republican party cannot cease its patriotic labors.

It is foolish to imagine that this great party, consecrated to Human Rights, can die. It will live as long as people cherish those sublime truths declared by our fathers, of which it is the representative and guardian. Its special work will be always to stand by the nation in its unity, and by the people in their rights. [_Applause._] For such a party there can be no decay. Men whom I now address may grow old, but the Republican party will be ever young. [_Applause._]

In conclusion, Mr. Sumner introduced GENERAL HAWLEY in the
following terms:--

Let me introduce to your notice at this time General Hawley, (or Governor Hawley, if you would rather, for both titles belong to him,) of Connecticut, who has stood by his principles both at home and on the battle-field. [_Applause._] And now, in introducing him, I am going to ask him to pardon me for a revelation which I believe will not be painful to the audience. I want to give you a passage from a letter addressed to myself by Mr. Hawley, at a time when he was much younger than he is now, bearing date Hartford, May, 1854. It was written on receipt of intelligence by telegraph that the life of a Senator was threatened at Washington by mobs. Mr. Hawley addressed a letter to that Senator, in which, after setting forth the telegram, he said: “Please write to me at once, and say if you need any defenders; if you do, I will be on the spot early.”[158] [_Tremendous applause._] This was written, Fellow-Citizens, so long ago as 1854; it was seven years before the war; yet General Hawley was then ready to meet the foe. [_Applause._] Gentlemen, I have the honor of introducing him to you.

THE DUEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY, WITH ITS LESSON TO CIVILIZATION.

LECTURE IN THE MUSIC HALL, BOSTON, OCTOBER 26, 1870.

“When kings make war,
No law betwixt two sovereigns can decide,
But that of arms, where Fortune is the judge,
Soldiers the lawyers, and the Bar the field.”

DRYDEN, _Love Triumphant_, Act I. Sc. 1.

LECTURE.

MR. PRESIDENT,--I am to speak of the Duel between France and Germany, with its Lesson to Civilization. In calling the terrible war now waging a Duel, I might content myself with classical authority, _Duellum_ being a well-known Latin word for War. The historian Livy makes a Roman declare that affairs are to be settled “by a pure and pious duel”;[159] the dramatist Plautus has a character in one of his plays who obtains great riches “by the duelling art,”[160] meaning the art of war; and Horace, the exquisite master of language, hails the age of Augustus with the Temple of Janus closed and “free from duels,”[161] meaning at peace,--for then only was that famous temple shut.

WAR UNDER THE LAW OF NATIONS A DUEL.

But no classical authority is needed for this designation. War, as conducted under International Law, between two organized nations, is in all respects a duel, according to the just signification of this word,--differing from that between two individuals only in the number of combatants. The variance is of proportion merely, each nation being an individual who appeals to the sword as Arbiter; and in each case the combat is subject to rules constituting a code by which the two parties are bound. For long years before civilization prevailed, the code governing the duel between individuals was as fixed and minute as that which governs the larger duel between nations, and the duel itself was simply a mode of deciding questions between individuals. In presenting this comparison I expose myself to criticism only from those who have not considered this interesting subject in the light of history and of reason. The parallel is complete. Modern war is the duel of the Dark Ages, magnified, amplified, extended so as to embrace nations; nor is it any less a duel because the combat is quickened and sustained by the energies of self-defence, or because, when a champion falls and lies on the ground, he is brutally treated. An authentic instance illustrates such a duel; and I bring before you the very pink of chivalry, the Chevalier Bayard, “the knight without fear and without reproach,” who, after combat in a chosen field, succeeded by a feint in driving his weapon four fingers deep into the throat of his adversary, and then, rolling with him, gasping and struggling, on the ground, thrust his dagger into the nostrils of the fallen victim, exclaiming, “Surrender, or you are a dead man!”--a speech which seemed superfluous; for the second cried out, “He is dead already; you have conquered.” Then did Bayard, brightest among the Sons of War, drag his dead enemy from the field, crying, “Have I done enough?”[162] Now, because the brave knight saw fit to do these things, the combat was not changed in original character. It was a duel at the beginning and at the end. Indeed, the brutality with which it closed was the natural incident of a duel. A combat once begun opens the way to violence, and the conqueror too often surrenders to the Evil Spirit, as Bayard in his unworthy barbarism.

In likening war between nations to the duel, I follow not only reason, but authority also. No better lawyer can be named in the long history of the English bar than John Selden, whose learning was equalled only by his large intelligence. In those conversations which under the name of “Table-Talk” continue still to instruct, the wise counsellor, after saying that the Church allowed the duel anciently, and that in the public liturgies there were prayers appointed for duellists to say, keenly inquires, “But whether is this lawful?” And then he answers, “If you grant any war lawful, I make no doubt but to convince it.”[163] Selden regarded the simple duel and the larger war as governed by the same rule. Of course the exercise of force in the suppression of rebellion, or in the maintenance of laws, stands on a different principle, being in its nature a constabulary proceeding, which cannot be confounded with the duel. But my object is not to question the lawfulness of war; I would simply present an image, enabling you to see the existing war in its true character.

The duel in its simplest form is between two individuals. In early ages it was known sometimes as the Judicial Combat, and sometimes as Trial by Battle. Not only points of honor, but titles to land, grave questions of law, and even the subtilties of theology, were referred to this arbitrament,[164]--just as now kindred issues between nations are referred to Trial by Battle; and the early rules governing the duel are reproduced in the Laws of War established by nations to govern the great Trial by Battle. Ascending from the individual to corporations, guilds, villages, towns, counties, provinces, we find that for a long period each of these bodies exercised what was called “the Right of War.” The history of France and Germany shows how reluctantly this mode of trial yielded to the forms of reason and order. France, earlier than Germany, ordained “Trial by Proofs,” and eliminated the duel from judicial proceedings, this important step being followed by the gradual amalgamation of discordant provinces in the powerful unity of the Nation,--so that Brittany and Normandy, Franche-Comté and Burgundy, Provence and Dauphiny, Gascony and Languedoc, with the rest, became the United States of France, or, if you please, France. In Germany the change was slower; and here the duel exhibits its most curious instances. Not only feudal chiefs, but associations of tradesmen and of domestics sent defiance to each other, and sometimes to whole cities, on pretences trivial as those which have been the occasion of defiance from nation to nation. There still remain to us Declarations of War by a Lord of Frauenstein against the free city of Frankfort, because a young lady of the city refused to dance with his uncle,--by the baker and domestics of the Margrave of Baden against Esslingen, Reutlingen, and other imperial cities,--by the baker of the Count Palatine Louis against the cities of Augsburg, Ulm, and Rottweil,--by the shoe-blacks of the University of Leipsic against the provost and other members,--and by the cook of Eppstein, with his scullions, dairy-maids, and dish-washers, against Otho, Count of Solms.[165] This prevalence of the duel aroused the Emperor Maximilian, who at the Diet of Worms put forth an ordinance abolishing the right or liberty of Private War, and instituting a Supreme Tribunal for the determination of controversies without appeal to the duel, and the whole long list of duellists, whether corporate or individual, including nobles, bakers, shoe-blacks, and cooks, was brought under its pacific rule. Unhappily the beneficent reform stopped half-way, and here Germany was less fortunate than France. The great provinces were left in the enjoyment of a barbarous independence, with the “right” to fight each other. The duel continued their established arbiter, until at last, in 1815, by the Act of Union constituting the Confederation or United States of Germany, each sovereignty gave up the right of war with its confederates, setting an example to the larger nations. The terms of this important stipulation, marking a stage in German unity, were as follows:--

“The members of the Confederation further bind themselves
under no pretext to make war upon one another, or to pursue
their differences by force of arms, but to submit them to the
Diet.”[166]

Better words could not be found for the United States of Europe, in the establishment of that Great Era when the Duel shall cease to be the recognized Arbiter of Nations.

With this exposition, which I hope is not too long, it is easy to see how completely a war between two nations is a duel,--and, yet further, how essential it is to that assured peace which civilization requires, that the duel, which is no longer tolerated as arbiter between individuals, between towns, between counties, between provinces, should cease to be tolerated as such between nations. Take our own country, for instance. In a controversy between towns, the local law provides a judicial tribunal; so also in a controversy between counties. Ascending still higher, suppose a controversy between two States of our Union; the National Constitution establishes a judicial tribunal, being the Supreme Court of the United States. But at the next stage there is a change. Let the controversy arise between two nations, and the Supreme Law, which is the Law of Nations, establishes, not a judicial tribunal, but the duel, as arbiter. What is true of our country is true of other countries where civilization has a foothold, and especially of France and Germany. The duel, though abolished as arbiter at home, is continued as arbiter abroad. And since it is recognized by International Law and subjected to a code, it is in all respects an Institution. War is an institution sanctioned by International Law, as Slavery, wherever it exists, is an institution sanctioned by Municipal Law. But this institution is nothing but the duel of the Dark Ages, prolonged into this generation, and showing itself in portentous barbarism.

WHY THIS PARALLEL NOW?

Therefore am I right, when I call the existing combat between France and Germany a Duel. I beg you to believe that I do this with no idle purpose of illustration or criticism, but because I would prepare the way for a proper comprehension of the remedy to be applied. How can this terrible controversy be adjusted? I see no practical method, which shall reconcile the sensibilities of France with the guaranties due to Germany, short of a radical change in the War System itself. That Security for the Future which Germany may justly exact can be obtained in no way so well as by the disarmament of France, to be followed naturally by the disarmament of other nations, and the substitution of some peaceful tribunal for the existing Trial by Battle. Any dismemberment, or curtailment of territory, will be poor and inadequate; for it will leave behind a perpetual sting. Something better must be done.

SUDDENNESS OF THIS WAR.

Never in history has so great a calamity descended so suddenly upon the Human Family, unless we except the earthquake toppling down cities and submerging a whole coast in a single night. But how small all that has ensued from any such convulsion, compared with the desolation and destruction already produced by this war! From the first murmur to the outbreak was a brief moment of time, as between the flash of lightning and the bursting of the thunder.

At the beginning of July there was peace without suspicion of interruption. The Legislative Body had just discussed a proposition for the reduction of the annual Army Contingent. At Berlin the Parliament was not in session. Count Bismarck was at his country home in Pomerania, the King enjoying himself at Ems. How sudden and unexpected the change will appear from an illustrative circumstance. M. Prévost-Paradol, of rare talent and unhappy destiny, newly appointed Minister to the United States, embarked at Havre on the 1st of July, and reached Washington on the morning of the 14th of July. He assured me that when he left France there was no talk or thought of war. During his brief summer voyage the whole startling event had begun and culminated. Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen being invited to become candidate for the throne of Spain, France promptly sent her defiance to Prussia, followed a few days later by formal Declaration of War. The Minister was oppressed by the grave tidings coming upon him so unprepared, and sought relief in self-slaughter, being the first victim of the war. Everything moved with a rapidity borrowed from the new forces supplied by human invention, and the Gates of War swung wide open.

CHALLENGE TO PRUSSIA.

A few incidents exhibit this movement. It was on the 30th of June, while discussing the proposed reduction of the Army, that Émile Ollivier, the Prime-Minister, said openly: “The Government has no kind of disquietude; at no epoch has the maintenance of peace been more assured; on whatever side you look, you see no irritating question under discussion.”[167] In the same debate, Garnier-Pagès, the consistent Republican, and now a member of the Provisional Government, after asking, “Why these armaments?” cried out: “Disarm, without waiting for others: this is practical. Let the people be relieved from the taxes which crush them, and from the heaviest of all, the tax of blood.”[168] The candidature of Prince Leopold seems to have become known at Paris on the 5th of July. On the next day the Duc de Gramont, of a family famous in scandalous history, Minister of Foreign Affairs, hurries to the tribune with defiance on his lips. After declaring for the Cabinet that no foreign power could be suffered, by placing one of its princes on the throne of Charles the Fifth, to derange the balance of power in Europe, and put in peril the interests and the honor of France, he concludes by saying, in ominous words: “Strong in your support, Gentlemen, and in that of the nation, we shall know how to do our duty without hesitation and without weakness.”[169] This defiance was followed by what is called in the report, “general and prolonged movement,--repeated applause”; and here was the first stage in the duel. Its character was recognized at once in the Chamber. Garnier-Pagès exclaimed, in words worthy of memory: “It is dynastic questions which trouble the peace of Europe. The people have only reason to love and aid each other.”[170] Though short, better than many long speeches. Crémieux, an associate in the Provisional Government of 1848, insisted that the utterance of the Minister was “a menace of war”; and Emmanuel Arago, son of the great Republican astronomer and mathematician, said that the Minister “had declared war.”[171] These patriotic representatives were not mistaken. The speech made peace difficult, if not impossible. It was a challenge to Prussia.

COMEDY.

Europe watched with dismay as the gauntlet was thus rudely flung down, while on this side of the Atlantic, where France and Germany commingle in the enjoyment of our equal citizenship, the interest was intense. Morning and evening the telegraph made us all partakers of the hopes and fears agitating the world. Too soon it was apparent that the exigence of France would not be satisfied, while already her preparations for war were undisguised. At all the naval stations, from Toulon to Cherbourg, the greatest activity prevailed. Marshal MacMahon was recalled from Algeria, and transports were made ready to bring back the troops from that colony.

Meanwhile the candidature of Prince Leopold was renounced by him. But this was not enough. The King of Prussia was asked to promise that it should in no event ever be renewed,--which he declined to do, reserving to himself the liberty of consulting circumstances. This requirement was the more offensive, inasmuch as it was addressed exclusively to Prussia, while nothing was said to Spain, the principal in the business. Then ensued an incident proper for comedy, if it had not become the declared cause of tragedy. The French Ambassador, Count Benedetti, who, on intelligence of the candidature, had followed the King to Ems, his favorite watering-place, and there in successive interviews pressed him to order its withdrawal, now, on its voluntary renunciation, proceeding to urge the new demand, and after an extended conversation, and notwithstanding its decided refusal, seeking, nevertheless, another audience the same day on this subject, his Majesty, with perfect politeness, sent him word by an adjutant in attendance, that he had no other answer to make than the one already given: and this refusal to receive the Ambassador was promptly communicated by telegraph, for the information especially of the different German governments.[172]

PRETEXT OF THE TELEGRAM.

These simple facts, insufficient for the slightest quarrel, intolerable in the pettiness of the issue disclosed, and monstrous as reason for war between two civilized nations, became the welcome pretext. Swiftly, and with ill-disguised alacrity, the French Cabinet took the next step in the duel. On the 15th of July the Prime-Minister read from the tribune a manifesto setting forth the griefs of France,--being, first, the refusal of the Prussian King to promise for the future, and, secondly, his refusal to receive the French Ambassador, with the communication of this refusal, as was alleged, “officially to the Cabinets of Europe,” which was a mistaken allegation:[173] and the paper concludes by announcing that since the preceding day the Government had called in the reserves, and that they would immediately take the measures necessary to secure the interests, the safety, and the honor of France.[174] This was war.

Some there were who saw the fearful calamity, the ghastly crime, then and there initiated. The scene that ensued belongs to this painful record. The paper announcing war was followed by prolonged applause. The Prime-Minister added soon after in debate, that he accepted the responsibility with “a light heart.”[175] Not all were in this mood. Esquiros, the Republican, cried from his seat, in momentous words, “You have a light heart, and the blood of nations is about to flow!” To the apology of the Prime-Minister, “that in the discharge of a duty the heart is not troubled,” Jules Favre, the Republican leader, of acknowledged moderation and ability, flashed forth, “When the discharge of this duty involves the slaughter of two nations, one may well have the heart troubled!” Beyond these declarations, giving utterance to the natural sentiments of humanity, was the positive objection, most forcibly presented by Thiers, so famous in the Chamber and in literature, “that the satisfaction due to France had been accorded her,--that Prussia had expiated by a check the grave fault she had committed,”--that France had prevailed in substance, and all that remained was “a question of form,” “a question of susceptibility,” “questions of etiquette.” The experienced statesman asked for the dispatches. Then came a confession. The Prime-Minister replied, that he had “nothing to communicate,--that, in the true sense of the term, there had been no dispatches,--that there were only verbal communications gathered up in reports, which, according to diplomatic usage, are not communicated.” Here Emmanuel Arago interrupted: “It is on these reports that you make war!” The Prime-Minister proceeded to read two brief telegrams from Count Benedetti at Ems, when De Choiseul very justly exclaimed: “We cannot make war on that ground; it is impossible!” Others cried out from their seats,--Garnier-Pagès saying, “These are phrases”; Emmanuel Arago protesting, “On this the civilized world will pronounce you wrong”; to which Jules Favre added, “Unhappily, true!” Thiers and Jules Favre, with vigorous eloquence, charged the war upon the Cabinet: Thiers declaring, “I regret to be obliged to say that we have war by the fault of the Cabinet”; Jules Favre alleging, “If we have war, it is thanks to the politics of the Cabinet; … from the exposition that has been made, so far as the general interests of the two countries are concerned, there is no avowable motive for war.” Girault exclaimed, in similar spirit: “We would be among the first to come forward in a war for the country, but we do not wish to come forward in a dynastic and aggressive war.” The Duc de Gramont, who on the 6th of July flung down the gauntlet, spoke once more for the Cabinet, stating solemnly, what was not the fact, that the Prussian Government had communicated to all the Cabinets of Europe the refusal to receive the French Ambassador, and then on this misstatement ejaculating: “It is an outrage on the Emperor and on France; and if, by impossibility, there were found in my country a Chamber to bear and tolerate it, I would not remain five minutes Minister of Foreign Affairs.” In our country we have seen how the Southern heart was fired; so also was fired the heart of France. The Duke descended from the tribune amidst prolonged applause, with cries of “Bravo!”--and at his seat (so says the report) “received numerous felicitations.” Such was the atmosphere of the Chamber at this eventful moment. The orators of the Opposition, pleading for delay in the interest of peace, were stifled; and when Gambetta, the young and fearless Republican, made himself heard in calling for the text of the dispatch communicating the refusal to receive the Ambassador, to the end that the Chamber, France, and all Europe might judge of its character, he was answered by the Prime-Minister with the taunt that “for the first time in a French Assembly there were such difficulties on a certain side in explaining _a question of honor_.” Such was the case as presented by the Prime-Minister, and on this question of honor he accepted war “with a light heart.” Better say, with no heart at all;--for whoso could find in this condition of things sufficient reason for war was without heart.[176]

During these brief days of solicitude, from the 6th to the 15th of July, England made an unavailing effort for peace. Lord Lyons was indefatigable; and he was sustained at home by Lord Granville, who as a last resort reminded the two parties of the stipulation at the Congress of Paris, which they had accepted, in favor of Arbitration as a substitute for War, and asked them to accept the good offices of some friendly power.[177] This most reasonable proposition was rejected by the French Minister, who gave new point to the French case by charging that Prussia “had chosen to declare that France had been affronted in the person of her Ambassador,” and then positively insisting that “it was this boast which was the _gravamen_ of the offence.” Capping the climax of barbarous absurdity, the French Minister did not hesitate to announce that this “constituted an insult which no nation of any spirit could brook, and rendered it, much to the regret of the French Government, impossible to take into consideration the mode of settling the original matter in dispute which was recommended by her Majesty’s Government.”[178] Thus was peaceful Arbitration repelled. All honor to the English Government for proposing it!

The famous telegram put forward by France as the _gravamen_, or chief offence, was not communicated to the Chamber. The Prime-Minister, though hard-pressed, held it back. Was it from conviction of its too trivial character? But it is not lost to the history of the duel. This telegram, with something of the brevity peculiar to telegraphic dispatches, merely reports the refusal to see the French Ambassador, without one word of affront or boast. It reports the fact, and nothing else; and it is understood that the refusal was only when this functionary presented himself a second time in one day on the same business. Considering the interests involved, it would have been better, had the King seen him as many times as he chose to call; yet the refusal was not unnatural. The perfect courtesy of his Majesty on this occasion furnished no cause of complaint. All that remained for pretext was the telegram.[179]

FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR.

The scene in the Legislative Body was followed by the instant introduction of bills making additional appropriations for the Army and Navy, calling out the National Guard, and authorizing volunteers for the war. This last proposition was commended by the observation that in France there were a great many young people liking powder, but not liking barracks, who would in this way be suited; and this was received with applause.[180] On the 18th of July there was a further appropriation to the extent of 500 million francs,--440 millions being for the Army, and 60 for the Navy; and an increase from 150 to 500 millions Treasury notes was authorized.[181] On the 20th of July the Duc de Gramont appeared once more in the tribune, and made the following speech:--

“Conformably to customary rules, and by order of the Emperor,
I have invited the _Chargé d’Affaires_ of France to notify the
Berlin Cabinet of our resolution to seek by arms the guaranties
which we have not been able to obtain by discussion. This step
has been taken, and I have the honor of making known to the
Legislative Body that in consequence a state of war exists
between France and Prussia, beginning the 19th of July. This
declaration applies equally to the allies of Prussia who lend
her the coöperation of their arms against us.”[182]

Here the French Minister played the part of trumpeter in the duel, making proclamation before his champion rode forward. According to the statement of Count Bismarck, made to the Parliament at Berlin, this formal Declaration of War was the solitary official communication from France in this whole transaction, being the first and only note since the candidature of Prince Leopold.[183] How swift this madness will be seen in a few dates. On the 6th of July was uttered the first defiance from the French tribune; on the 15th of July an exposition of the griefs of France, in the nature of a Declaration of War, with a demand for men and money; on the 19th of July a state of war was declared to exist.

Firmly, but in becoming contrast with the “light heart” of France, this was promptly accepted by Germany, whose heart and strength found expression in the speech of the King at the opening of Parliament, hastily assembled on the 19th of July. With articulation disturbed by emotion and with moistened eyes, his Majesty said:--

“Supported by the unanimous will of the German governments of
the South as of the North, we turn the more confidently to the
love of Fatherland and the cheerful self-devotion of the German
people, with a call to the defence of their honor and their
independence.”[184]

Parliament responded sympathetically to the King, and made the necessary appropriations. And thus the two champions stood front to front.

THE TWO HOSTILE PARTIES.

Throughout France, throughout Germany, the trumpet sounded, and everywhere the people sprang to arms, as if the great horn of Orlando, after a sleep of ages, had sent forth once more its commanding summons. Not a town, not a village, that the voice did not penetrate. Modern invention had supplied an ally beyond anything in fable. From all parts of France, from all parts of Germany, armed men leaped forward, leaving behind the charms of peace and the business of life. On each side the muster was mighty, armies counting by the hundred thousand. And now, before we witness the mutual slaughter, let us pause to consider the two parties, and the issue between them.

France and Germany are most unlike, and yet the peers of each other, while among the nations they are unsurpassed in civilization, each prodigious in resources, splendid in genius, and great in renown. No two nations are so nearly matched. By Germany I now mean not only the States constituting North Germany, but also Würtemberg, Baden, and Bavaria of South Germany, allies in the present war, all of which together make about fifty-three millions of French hectares, being very nearly the area of France. The population of each is not far from thirty-eight millions, and it would be difficult to say which is the larger. Looking at finances, Germany has the smaller revenue, but also the smaller debt, while her rulers, following the sentiment of the people, cultivate a wise economy, so that here again substantial equality is maintained with France. The armies of the two, embracing regular troops and those subject to call, did not differ much in numbers, unless we set aside the authority of the “Almanach de Gotha,” which puts the military force of France somewhat vaguely at 1,350,000, while that of North Germany is only 977,262, to which must be added 49,949 for Bavaria, 34,953 for Würtemberg, and 43,703 for Baden, making a sum-total of 1,105,867. This, however, is chiefly on paper, where it is evident France is stronger than in reality. Her available force at the outbreak of the war probably did not amount to more than 350,000 bayonets, while that of Germany, owing to her superior system, was as much as double this number. In Prussia every man is obliged to serve, and, still further, every man is educated. Discipline and education are two potent adjuncts. This is favorable to Germany. In the Chassepot and needle-gun the two are equal. But France excels in a well-appointed Navy, having no less than 55 iron-clads, and 384 other vessels of war, while Germany has but 2 iron-clads, and 87 other vessels of war.[185] Then again for long generations has existed another disparity, to the great detriment of Germany. France has been a nation, while Germany has been divided, and therefore weak. Strong in union, the latter now claims something more than that _dominion of the air_ once declared to be hers, while France had the land and England the sea.[186] The dominion of the land is at last contested, and we are saddened inexpressibly, that, from the elevation they have reached, these two peers of civilization can descend to practise the barbarism of war, and especially that the land of Descartes, Pascal, Voltaire, and Laplace must challenge to bloody duel the land of Luther, Leibnitz, Kant, and Humboldt.

FOLLY.

Plainly between these two neighboring powers there has been unhappy antagonism, constant, if not increasing, partly from the memory of other days, and partly because France could not bear to witness that German unity which was a national right and duty. Often it has been said that war was inevitable. But it has come at last by surprise, and on “a question of form.” So it was called by Thiers; so it was recognized by Ollivier, when he complained of insensibility to a question of honor; and so also by the Duc de Gramont, when he referred it all to a telegram. This is not the first time in history that wars have been waged on trifles; but since the Lord of Frauenstein challenged the free city of Frankfort because a young lady of the city refused to dance with his uncle, nothing has passed more absurd than this challenge sent by France to Germany because the King of Prussia refused to see the French Ambassador a second time on the same matter, and then let the refusal be reported by telegraph. Here is the folly exposed by Shakespeare, when Hamlet touches a madness greater than his own in that spirit which would “find quarrel in a straw when honor’s at the stake,” and at the same time depicts an army

“Led by a delicate and tender prince,
…
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that Fortune, Death, and Danger dare,
_Even for an egg-shell_.”

There can be no quarrel in a straw or for an egg-shell, unless men have gone mad. Nor can honor in a civilized age require any sacrifice of reason or humanity.

UNJUST PRETENSION OF FRANCE TO INTERFERE WITH THE CANDIDATURE OF HOHENZOLLERN.

If the utter triviality of the pretext were left doubtful in the debate, if its towering absurdity were not plainly apparent, if its simple wickedness did not already stand before us, we should find all these characteristics glaringly manifest in that unjust pretension which preceded the objection of form, on which France finally acted. A few words will make this plain.

In a happy moment Spain rose against Queen Isabella, and, amidst cries of “Down with the Bourbons!” drove her from the throne which she dishonored. This was in September, 1868. Instead of constituting a Republic at once, in harmony with those popular rights which had been proclaimed, the half-hearted leaders proceeded to look about for a King; and from that time till now they have been in this quest, as if it were the Holy Grail, or happiness on earth. The royal family of Spain was declared incompetent. Therefore a king must be found outside,--and so the quest was continued in other lands. One day the throne is offered to a prince of Portugal, then to a prince of Italy, but declined by each,--how wisely the future will show. At last, after a protracted pursuit of nearly two years, the venturesome soldier who is Captain-General and Prime-Minister, Marshal Prim, conceives the idea of offering it to a prince of Germany. His luckless victim is Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a Catholic, thirty-five years of age, and colonel of the first regiment of the Prussian foot-guards, whose father, a mediatized German prince, resides at Düsseldorf. The Prince had not the good sense to decline. How his acceptance excited the French Cabinet, and became the beginning of the French pretext, I have already exposed; and now I come to the pretension itself.

By what title did France undertake to interfere with the choice of Spain? If the latter was so foolish as to seek a foreigner for king, making a German first among Spaniards, by what title did any other power attempt to control its will? To state the question is to answer it. Beginning with an outrage on Spanish independence, which the Spain of an earlier day would have resented, the next outrage was on Germany, in assuming that an insignificant prince of that country could not be permitted to accept the invitation,--all of which, besides being of insufferable insolence, was in that worst dynastic spirit which looks to princes rather than the people. Plainly France was unjustifiable. When I say it was none of her business, I give it the mildest condemnation. This was the first step in her monstrous _blunder-crime_.

Its character as a pretext becomes painfully manifest, when we learn more of the famous Prince Leopold, thus invited by Spain and opposed by France. It is true that his family name is in part the same as that of the Prussian king. Each is Hohenzollern; but he adds Sigmaringen to the name. The two are different branches of the same family; but you must ascend to the twelfth century, counting more than twenty degrees, before you come to a common ancestor.[187] And yet on this most distant and infinitesimal relationship the French pretension is founded. But audacity changes to the ridiculous, when it is known that the Prince is nearer in relationship to the French Emperor than to the Prussian King, and this by three different intermarriages, which do not go back to the twelfth century. Here is the case. His grandfather had for wife a niece of Joachim Murat,[188] king of Naples, and brother-in-law of the first Napoleon; and his father had for wife a daughter of Stéphanie de Beauharnais, an adopted daughter of the first Napoleon; so that Prince Leopold is by his father great-grand-nephew of Murat, and by his mother he is grandson of Stéphanie de Beauharnais, who was cousin and by adoption sister of Hortense de Beauharnais, mother of the present Emperor; and to this may be added still another connection, by the marriage of his father’s sister with Joachim Napoleon, Marquis of Pepoli, grandson of Joachim Murat.[189] It was natural that a person thus connected with the Imperial Family should be a welcome visitor at the Tuileries; and it is easy to believe that Marshal Prim, who offered him the throne, was encouraged to believe that the Emperor’s kinsman and guest would be favorably regarded by France. And yet, in the face of these things, and the three several family ties, fresh and modern, binding him to France and the French Emperor, the pretension was set up that his occupation of the Spanish throne would put in peril the interests and the honor of France.

BECAUSE FRANCE WAS READY.

In sending defiance to Prussia on this question, the French Cabinet selected their own ground. Evidently a war had been meditated, and the candidature of Prince Leopold from beginning to end supplied a pretext. In this conclusion, which is too obvious, we are hardly left to inference. The secret was disclosed by Rouher, President of the Senate, lately the eloquent and unscrupulous Minister, when, in an official address to the Emperor, immediately after the War Manifesto read by the Prime-Minister, he declared that France quivered with indignation at the flights of an ambition over-excited by the one day’s good-fortune at Sadowa, and then proceeded:--

“Animated by that calm perseverance which is true force, your
Majesty has known how to wait; but in the last four years
you have carried to its highest perfection the arming of our
soldiers, and raised to its full power the organization of
our military forces. _Thanks to your care, Sire, France is
ready._”[190]

Thus, according to the President of the Senate, France, after waiting, commenced war because she was ready,--while, according to the Cabinet, it was on the point of honor. Both were right. The war was declared because the Emperor thought himself ready, and a pretext was found in the affair of the telegram.

Considering the age, and the present demands of civilization, such a war stands forth terrific in wrong, making the soul rise indignant against it. One reason avowed is brutal; the other is frivolous; both are criminal. If we look into the text of the Manifesto and the speeches of the Cabinet, it is a war founded on a trifle, on a straw, on an egg-shell. Obviously these were pretexts only. Therefore it is a war of pretexts, the real object being the humiliation and dismemberment of Germany, in the vain hope of exalting the French Empire and perpetuating a bawble crown on the head of a boy. By military success and a peace dictated at Berlin, the Emperor trusted to find himself in such condition, that, on return to Paris, he could overthrow parliamentary government so far as it existed there, and reëstablish personal government, where all depended upon himself,--thus making triumph over Germany the means of another triumph over the French people.

In other times there have been wars as criminal in origin, where trifle, straw, or egg-shell played its part; but they contrasted less with the surrounding civilization. To this list belong the frequent Dynastic Wars, prompted by the interest, the passion, or the whim of some one in the Family of Kings. Others have begun in recklessness kindred to that we now witness,--as when England entered into war with Holland, and for reason did not hesitate to allege “abusive pictures.”[191] The England of Charles the Second was hardly less sensitive than the France of Louis Napoleon, while in each was similar indifference to consequences. But France has precedents of her own. From the remarkable correspondence of the Princess Palatine, Duchess of Orléans, we learn that the first war with Holland under Louis the Fourteenth was brought on by the Minister, De Lionne, to injure a petty German prince who had made him jealous of his wife.[192] The communicative and exuberant Saint-Simon tells us twice over how Louvois, another Minister of Louis the Fourteenth, being overruled by his master with regard to the dimensions of a window at Versailles, was filled with the idea that “on account of a few inches in a window,” as he expressed it, all his services would be forgotten, and therefore, to save his place, excited a foreign war that would make him necessary to the King. The flames in the Palatinate, devouring the works of man, attested his continuing power. The war became general, but, according to the chronicler, it ruined France at home, and did not extend her domain abroad.[193] The French Emperor confidently expected to occupy the same historic region so often burnt and ravaged by French armies, with that castle of Heidelberg which repeats the tale of blood,--and, let me say, expected it for no better reason than that of his royal predecessor, stimulated by an unprincipled Minister anxious for personal position. The parallel is continued in the curse which the Imperial arms have brought on France.

PROGRESS OF THE WAR.