CHAPTER XIII
We were now rid of our Landwehr, who were garrisoned at Phalsbourg, buta part of whom were sent off into the interior. They were indignant,and declared that if they had known that they were to be sent farther,the blockade would have lasted longer; that they would have let thecows, the bullocks, and the bread find their way in, many a time, inspite of their chiefs; and that it was infamous to expose them to newdangers when every man had done his part in the campaign.
There was no enthusiasm in them; but, all the same, they marched instep in their ranks, and were moved some on Belfort, some on Paris.
We learned, through the German newspapers, that they had severersufferings to endure round Belfort than with us; that the garrison madesorties, and drove them several leagues away; that their dead bodieswere rotting in heaps, behind the hedges, covered with snow and mud;that the commander, Denfert, gave them many a heavy dig in the ribs;and every day people coming from Alsace told us that such an one of thepoor fellows whom we had known had just been struck down by a ball,maimed by a splinter or a shell, or bayoneted by our Mobiles. We couldnot help pitying them, for they all had five or six children each, ofwhom they were forever talking; and naturally, for when the parent-birddies the brood is lost.
And all this for the honor and glory of the King of Prussia, ofBismarck, of Moltke, and a few heroes of the same stamp, not one ofwhom has had a scratch in the chances of war.
How can one help shrugging one's shoulders and laughing inwardly atseeing these Germans, with all their education, greater fools thanourselves? They have won! That is to say, the survivors; for thosewho are buried, or who have lost their limbs, have no great gain toboast of, and can hardly rejoice over the success of the enterprise.They have gained--what? The hatred of a people who had loved them;they have gained that they will be obliged to fight every time theirlords or masters give the order; they have gained that they can sayAlsace and Lorraine are German, which is absolutely no gain whatever;and besides this they have gained the envy of a vast number of people,and the distrust of a vast many more, who will end by agreeing togetherto fall upon them in a body, and treat them to fire and slaughter andbombardment, of which they have set us the example.
This is what the peasants, the artisans, and the bourgeois have gained:as for the chiefs, they have won some a title, some a pension or anepaulette: others have the satisfaction of saying, "I am the greatSo-and-So! I am William, Emperor of Germany; a crown was set on myhead at Versailles, whilst thousands of my subjects were biting thedust!"
Alas! notwithstanding all this, these people will die, and in a hundredyears will be recognized as barbarians; their names will be inscribedon the roll of the plagues of the human race, and there they willremain to the end of time.
But what is the use of reasoning with such philosophers as these? Intime they will acknowledge the truth of what I say!
Now to our story again.
They were fighting furiously round Belfort; our men did not drop offasleep in casem*nts; they occupied posts at a distance all round theplace: their sortie from Bourcoigne, and their slaughter of theBavarians at Haute-Perche, were making a great noise in Alsace.
We learned from the _Independance_ the battles of Chanzy at Vendomeagainst the army of Mecklenburg; the fight by General Cremer at Nuitsagainst the army of Von Werder; the retreat of Manteuffel towardAmiens, after having overwhelmed Rouen with forced contributions; thebayonet attack upon the villages around Pont-Noyelles, in whichFaidherbe had defeated the enemy; and especially the grand measures ofGambetta, who had at last dissolved the Councils-General named by thePrefects of the Empire, and replaced them by really Republicandepartmental commissions.
Cousin George highly approved of this step. This was of moreimportance in his eyes than the decrees of our Prussian Prefet Henckelde Bonnermark; though he had inflicted heavy fines upon the fathers andmothers of the young men who had left home to join the French armies,and had laid Lorraine, already ruined by the invasion, under acontribution of 700,000 livres to compensate the losses suffered by theGerman mercantile marine; plundering decrees which went nigh to tearingthe bread out of our mouths.
Then George passed on to the campaign of Chanzy; for what could begrander than this struggle of a young, inexperienced army, scarcelyorganized, against forces double their number, commanded by the greatPrussian general who had been victorious at Woerth, Sedan, and Metz,over the whole of the Imperial troops?
George especially admired the noble protest of Chanzy, proclaiming tothe world the ferocity of the Germans, and pointing out with pride thefalsehoods of their generals, who invariably claimed the victory.
"The Commander-in-Chief lays before the army the subjoined protest,which he transmits, under a flag of truce, to the commander of thePrussian troops at Vendome, with the assurance that his indignationwill be shared by all, as well as his desire to take signal revenge forsuch insults.
"To the Prussian commander at Vendome:
"I am informed that unjustifiable acts of violence have been committedby troops under your orders upon the unoffending inhabitants of St.Calais. In spite of our humane treatment of your sick and wounded,your officers have exacted money and commanded pillage. Such conductis an abuse of power, which will weigh heavily upon your consciences,and which the patriotism of our people will enable them to endure; butwhat I cannot permit is, that you should add to these injuries insultswhich you know full well to be entirely gratuitous.
"You have asserted that we were defeated; that assertion is false. Wehave beaten you and held you in check since the 4th of this month. Youhave presumed to attach the name of coward to men who are preventedfrom answering you; pretending that they were coerced by the Governmentof National Defence, which, as you said, compelled them to resist whenthey wanted peace, and you were offering it. I deny this: I deny it bythe right given me by the resistance of entire France and this armywhich confronts you, and which you have been hitherto unable tovanquish. This communication reaffirms what our resistance oughtalready to have taught you. Whatever may be the sacrifices still leftus to endure, we will struggle to the very end, without truce or pity;since now we are resisting the attacks not of loyal and honorableenemies but of devastating bands who aim solely at the ruin anddisgrace of a nation, which itself is striving to maintain its honor,rank, and independence. To the generous treatment we have accorded toyour prisoners and wounded, your reply is insolence, fire, and plunder.I therefore protest, with deep indignation, in the name of humanity andthe rights of men, which you will trample underfoot.
"The present order will be read before the troops at three consecutivemuster-calls.
"CHANZY, _Commander-in-Chief_, "HEAD-QUARTERS, _Le Mans, 26th December, 1870._"
These are the words of an honorable man and a patriot, words to make aman lift up his head.
And as Manteuffel, whose only merit consists in having been during hisyouth the boon companion of the pious William; as this old courtierfollowed the same system as Frederick Charles and Mecklenburg, oflowering us to raise themselves, and to get their successes cheap;General Faidherbe also obliged him to abate his pride after the affairof Pont-Noyelles.
"The French army have left in the hands of the enemy only a fewsailors, surprised in the village of Daours. It has kept itspositions, and has waited in vain for the enemy until two o'clock inthe afternoon of the next day."
This was plain speaking, and it was clear on which side good faith wasto be looked for.
Thus, after having opposed a million of men to 300,000 conscripts,these Germans were even now obliged to lie in order not to discouragetheir armies.
Of course they could not but prevail in the end: France had had no timeto prepare anew, to arm, and to recover herself after this disgracefulcapitulation of the _honest man_ and his friend Bazaine; but still sheresisted with terrible energy, and the Prussians at last became anxiousfor peace too, and wished for it, perhaps, even more than ourselves.
The proof of this is the num
berless petitions of the Germans entreatingKing William to bombard Paris.
Humane Germans, fathers of families, pious men, seated quietly by theircounters at Hamburg, Cologne, or Berlin, in every town and village ofGermany, eating and drinking heartily, warming their fat legs beforethe fire during this winter of unexampled severity, cried to their kingat Christmas time to bombard Paris, and set fire to the houses--to killand burn fathers and mothers of families like themselves, but reducedto famine in their own dwellings!
Have any but the Germans ever done the like?
We too have besieged German towns, but never have petitions been sentup like this under the Republic, or under the Empire, to ask oursoldiers to do more injury than war between brave men requires. Andsince that period we have never uselessly shelled houses inhabited byinoffensive persons; and even when we have had to bombard walled towns,warning was given, as at Odessa and everywhere else, to give helplesspeople time to depart for the interior, if they did not want to run therisk of meeting with stray bullets; and permission was given to oldmen, women, and children to come out--a privilege never granted by thePrussians.
Ah! the French may not be so pious, so learned, and so good as the_good German people_, but they have better hearts and feelings ofcompassion; they have less of the Gospel upon their lips, but they haveit in the bottoms of their souls. They are not hypocrites, andtherefore we Alsacians and Lorrainers had rather remain French thanbelong to the _good German people_, and be like them.
Indignities without a precedent have been committed by them:"Shell--bombard--burn, in the name of Heaven! Set fire everywhere withpetroleum bombs!--You are too gracious a king!--Your scruples betraytoo much weakness for this Babylon: Bombard quick: Bombardments havesucceeded better than anything else. Sire, your good and faithfulpeople entreat you to bombard everything--leave nothing standing!"
Oh! scoundrels!--rascals!--if you have so often played the saint forfifty years; if you have talked so edifyingly about friendship,brotherhood, and the alliance of nations, it was because you did notthen think yourselves the strongest; now that you think you are, youpiously bombard women, old men, and children, in the name of theSaviour! Faugh! it is simply disgusting!
Every time that Cousin George read these assassins' petitions, he wouldspring off his chair and cry: "Now I know what to think of fanatics ofevery religion. These men have no need to play the hypocrite: theirreligion does not oblige them to it. Well, they play the Jesuit forthe love of it, better than we do by profession. May they be execratedand despised perpetually."
Then he dilated with much warmth of feeling upon the kind receptionwhich the Parisians, in former days, used to accord to the Germans, forforty years and more. Men who came to seek a livelihood among us,without a penny, lean, humble, half-clad, with a little bundle of oldrags under their arms, asking for credit, even in George's and MarieAnne's little inn, for a basin of broth, a bit of meat, and a glass ofwine, were kindly received; they were cheered up, and situations foundfor them: everybody was anxious to put them in the right way, toexplain to them what they did not know. Soon they grew fat andflourishing, and gained assurance; by servility they would win theconfidence of the head-clerk, who showed them all about the business;and then some fine morning it was noised about that the head-clerk wasdischarged and the German was in his place. He had had a privateinterview with the head partner, and had proposed to do the work forhalf the salary. Of course the partners are always glad to have goodworkmen, humble and obsequious, and, above all, cheap. George hadwitnessed this fifty times.
But people did not get angry; they would say,
"The poor fellow must earn a living somehow. The other is a Frenchman:he will very soon secure another place."
And it was thus that the Germans slipped quietly into the shoes ofthose who had received them kindly and taught them their trade.
A few old clerks used to get angry; but they were always held to be inthe wrong. "_That good German_" was justified! He had not meddled;everything had gone on simply and naturally.
And twenty, thirty, fifty thousand Germans used thus to come andprosper in Paris; and then they would get a holiday to take a turn homeand exhibit the flesh and fat they had gained, and their gold trinkets.
If they happened to be professors of languages or newspapercorrespondents, they were sure to break out down there against thecorruption of manners in this "modern Babylon." Great hulking fellowsthey were, with long hooded cloaks, and gold or silver spectacles, whohad scandalized even their doorkeepers by bringing home night afternight "princesses" of Mabile and elsewhere, singing, drinking like asponge, shaking all the house, and preventing people from sleeping;bringing, besides, other colleagues of the same stamp, and leadingdisgraceful lives!
But it is the fashion in Germany to cry out against "modern Babylon."It flatters the secret envy of the Germans, and establishes thecharacter of the speaker for seriousness, gravity, and influence; as aman worthy of every consideration, and who may hope--if his situationin Paris is permanent--for the hand of "Herr Rector's" or "HerrDoctor's" fair daughter: for in that country they are all doctors insomething or other. He had gone off as cold and comfortless as thestones in the street; he would have become a school-master, or a smallclerk at a couple of hundred thalers all his life, in old Germany. Heweighed heavily upon his poor father, encumbered with a dozen children;but he had grown fat, well-feathered, and well-trained in Paris; andthere he is now virtuously indignant against our own townswomen:against the degenerate race which has given him his daily bread, andpulled him out of the mire, instead of kicking him downstairs.
This German fellow used to be republican, socialist, communist, etc.He had fled from Cologne, or elsewhere, in consequence of the events of1848. Nothing in our opinion was sufficiently strong, decided, oradvanced for him. He spouted about his sacrifices for the universalRepublic, his terrible campaign in the Duchy of Baden against thePrussians, the loss of his place, of his property. We thought, whatsufferings he has endured! Surely, the Germans are the first Democratsin the world!
But now this very same gentleman is the most faithful servant of hisMajesty William, King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany. No doubt hetalks at Berlin of the sacrifices which he has made to the noble causeof Germany, the battles he has fought in the public-houses amongst thebroken bottles of beer which he has been swallowing by the dozen, toreclaim old Alsace, where lie deep the roots of the Germanic tongue.He abounds in indignation against the "modern Babylon;" his name standsat the head of the earliest petitions that Babylon should be burned,till nothing but ashes were left: that that race of madmen should beexterminated; and as during his residence in France he has renderedpolice services to Bismarck, he is pretty sure to obtain a post inAlsace-Lorraine, where all these old German spies are swooping down toGermanize us.
Thus spoke George, in his indignation; and Marie Anne, after listeningto him, said: "Ah, it is too true! Those men did deceive us; and theydid not even pay their debts. Some fine morning, when their bill hadrun up, three-fourths of them would make a start, and they were neverheard of again. I have never had any confidence in any of them, exceptthe crossing-sweepers and the shoe-blacks: one knew where to find them;but as for the professors, the newspaper correspondents, the inventors,the book-worms--they have done us too many bad turns; and they were toooverbearing. They were filled with hatred and envy of our nation."
Since the departure of the Landwehr, we were able to speak more freely:those sulky eavesdroppers were no longer spying upon us, and we feltthe relief.
Paris, as we saw in the _Independance_, was making sorties. The GardesMobiles and the National Guards were being drilled and becoming betterskilled in the use of arms. Our sailors, in the forts, were admirable.But the Germans grew stronger from day to day; they had brought suchenormous guns--called Krupp's--that the railways were unable to bearthem, the tunnels were not high enough to give them passage, and thebridges gave way under their ponderous mass. This proves that if thebombardment
had not yet commenced, in spite of the innumerablepetitions of _the good Germans_, it was not for want of will on thepart of his Majesty King William, Messieurs Moltke, Bismarck, and allthose good men. Oh, no! our forts and our sorties hampered them a gooddeal in gaining their positions!
At last, about the end of December, "by the grace of God," as theEmperor William said, they began by bombarding a few forts, and weresoon enabled to reach houses, hospitals, churches, and museums.
George and Marie Anne knew all these places by name, and theseferocious acts drew from them cries of horror. I, my wife, and Gredelcould not understand these accounts: having never been in Paris, wecould not form an idea of it.
The German news-writers knew them, however; for daily they told us howgreat a misfortune it was to be obliged to shell such rich libraries,such beautiful galleries of pictures, such magnificent monuments, andgardens so richly stocked with plants and rare collections; that itmade their hearts bleed: they professed themselves inconsolable atbeing driven to such an extremity by the evil dispositions of those whopresumed to defend their property, their homes, their wives, theirchildren, contrary to every principle of justice! They pitied theFrench for their want of common-sense; they said that their brains wereaddled; that they were in their dotage, and uttered similar absurdities.
But every time that they lost men, their fury rose: "The Germans are asacred race! Kill Germans! a superior race! it is a high crime. TheFrench, the Swiss, the Danes, the Dutch, Belgians, Poles, Hungarians,even the Russians, are destined to be successively devoured by theGermans." I have heard this with my own ears! Yes, the Russians, too,they cannot dispense with the Germans; their manufactures, their trade,their sciences come to them from Germany; they, too, belong to aninferior race. The renowned Gortschakoff is unworthy to dust the bootsof Monsieur Bismarck, and the Emperor of Russia is most fortunate inbeing allied by marriage to the Emperor William: it is a gloriousprerogative for him!
The captain, Floegel, used often to repeat these things; and besides,the Germans all say the same at this time; you have but to listen tothem: they are too strong now to need to hide their ambition. Theythink they are conferring a great honor upon us Alsacians andLorrainers in acknowledging us as cousins, and gathering us tothemselves out of love. We were a superior race in "that degenerateFrance;" but we are about to become little boys again amongst the nobleGerman people. We are the last new-comers into Germany, and shallrequire time to acquire the noble German virtues: to become hypocrites,spies, bombarders, plunderers; to learn to receive slaps and kickswithout winking. But what would you have? You cannot regenerate apeople in a day.
The Prussians had announced that Paris would surrender after aneight-days' bombardment; but as the Parisians held out; as there werepassing by Saverne innumerable convoys of wounded, scorched, maimed,and sick by thousands; as General Faidherbe had gained a victory in theNorth, the victory of Bapaume, in which we had driven the Prussiansfrom the field of battle all covered with their dead, and in which theenemy had left in our hands not only all their wounded, but a greatnumber of prisoners; as the inhabitants of Paris had only one fault tofind with General Trochu, that he did not lead them out to the greatbattle, and they were raising the cry of "victory or death;" sinceChanzy, repulsed at Le Mans, was falling back in good order, while inthe midst of the deep snows of January and the severest cold, Bourbakiwas still advancing upon Belfort; and Garibaldi with his francs-tireurswas not losing courage; since the Germans were suffering fromexhaustion; and it takes but an hour, a minute, to turn all the chancesagainst one; and if Faidherbe had gained his victory nearer to Paris agreat sortie would have ensued, which might have entirely changed theface of things--for these and other reasons, I suppose, all at oncethere was much talk of humanity, mildness, peace; of the convocation ofan assembly at Bordeaux, where the true representatives of the nationmight settle everything, and restore order to our unhappy France.
As soon as these rumors began to spread, George said that Alsace andGerman Lorraine were to be sacrificed; that our egotists had come to anunderstanding with the Germans; that all our defeats had been unable tocast us down, and the Prussians were better pleased than ourselves tocome to an end of it, for they needed peace, having no reserves left tothrow into the scale; that Gambetta's enthusiasm and courage might atonce win over the most timid, and that then the Germans would be lost,because a people that rises in a body, and at the same time possessesarms and munitions of war in a third of our provinces, such a nation inthe long run would crush all resistance.
I could say nothing. Even to-day I do not know what might havehappened. When Cousin George spoke, I was of his opinion; and then,left to my own reflections, when I saw that immense body of prisonersdelivered by Bonaparte and Bazaine all at once; all our armssurrendered at Metz and Strasbourg, and our fortresses fallen one afteranother; then the ill-will, to say the least of all the formerplace-holders under the Empire, three-fourths of whom were retainingtheir posts--I thought it quite possible that we might wage against theGermans a war much more dangerous than the first; that we might destroymany more of the enemy at the same time with ourselves; but, if I hadbeen told to choose, I should have found it hard to decide.
Of course, if the Prussians had been defeated in the interior, beforeabandoning our country, they would have ruined us utterly, and set fireto every village. I have myself several times heard a _Hauptmann_ atPhalsbourg say, "You had better pray for us! For woe to you, if weshould be repulsed! All that you have hitherto suffered would be but ajoke. We would not leave one stone upon another in Alsace andLorraine. That would be our defensive policy. So pray for the successof our armies. If we should be obliged to retire, you would be much tobe pitied!"
I can hear these words still.
But I would not have minded even that: I would have sacrificed house,mill, and all, if we could only have finally been victorious andremained French; but I was in doubt. Misery makes a man lose, notcourage, but confidence; and confidence is half the battle won.
About that time we received Jacob's first letter; he was at Rastadt,and I need not tell you what a relief it was to his mother to thinkthat she could go and see him in one day.
Here is the letter, which I copy for you:
"MY DEAR FATHER AND MY DEAR MOTHER,--
"Thank God, I am not dead yet; and I should be glad to hear from you,if possible. You must know that, on arriving at Luetzelbourg, we weresent off by railway in cattle-trucks. We were thirty or fortytogether; and we were not so comfortable as to be able to sit, sincethere were no seats, nor to breathe the air, as there was only a smallhole to each side. Those of us who wanted to breathe or to drink,found a bayonet before our noses, and charitable souls were forbiddento give us a glass of water. We remained in this position more thantwenty hours, standing, unable even to stoop a little. Many were takenill; and as for me, my thigh bones seemed to run up into my ribs, sothat I could scarcely breathe, and I thought with my comrades that theyhad undertaken to exterminate us after some new fashion.
"During the night we crossed the Rhine, and then we went on rollingalong the line, and travelling along the other side as far as Rastadt,where we are now. The hindmost trucks, where I was, remained; theothers went on into Germany. We were first put into the casematesunder the ramparts; damp, cold vaults, where many others who hadarrived before us were dying like flies in October. The straw wasrotting--so were the men. The doctors in the town and those of theBaden regiments were afraid of seeing sickness spreading in thecountry; and since the day before yesterday those who are able to walkhave been made to come out. They have put us into large wooden hutscovered in with tarred felt, where we have each received a fresh bundleof straw. Here we live, seated on the ground. We play at cards, somesmoke pipes, and the Badeners mount guard over us. The hut in which Iam--about three times as large as the old market-hall of Phalsbourg--issituated between two of the town bastions; and if by some evil chanceany of us took a fancy to revolt, we should be so overwhel
med with shotand shell that in ten minutes not a man would be left alive. We arewell aware of this, and it keeps our indignation within bounds againstthese Badeners, who treat us like cattle. We get food twice a day--alittle haricot or millet soup, with a very small piece of meat aboutthe size of a finger: just enough to keep us alive. After such ablockade as ours, something more is wanted to set us up; our nosesstand out of our faces like crows' bills, our cheeks sink in deeper anddeeper; and but for the guns pointed at us, we should have risen adozen times.
"I hope, however, I may get over it; father's cloak keeps me warm, andCousin George's louis are very useful. With money you can getanything; only here you have to pay five times the value of what youwant, for these Badeners are worse than Jews; they all want to maketheir fortunes in the shortest time out of the unhappy prisoners.
"I use my money sparingly. Instead of smoking, I prefer buying fromtime to time a little meat or a very small bottle of wine to fortify mystomach; it is much better for my health, and is the more enjoyablewhen your appetite is good. My appetite has never failed. When theappetite fails, comes the typhus. I do not expect I shall catchtyphus. But, if it please God to let me return to Rothalp, the veryfirst day I will have a substantial meal of ham, veal pie, and redwine. I will also invite my comrades, for it is a dreadful thing to behungry. And now, to tell you the truth, I repent of having never givena couple of sous to some poor beggar who asked me for alms in thewinter, saying that he had nothing, I know what hunger is now, and Ifeel sorry. If you meet one in this condition, father or mother,invite him in, give him bread, let him warm himself, and give him twoor three sous when he goes. Fancy that you are doing it for your son;it will bring me comfort.
"Perhaps mother will be able to come and see me: not many people areallowed to come near us; a permit must be had from the commandant atRastadt. These Badeners and these Bavarians, who were said to be suchgood Catholics, treat us as hardly as the Lutherans. I remember nowthat Cousin George used to say that was only part of the play: he wasright. Instead of only praising and singing to our Lord, they wouldmuch better follow His example.
"Let mother try! Perhaps the commandant may have had a good dinner;then he will be in a good temper, and will give her leave to come intothe huts: that is my wish. And now, to come to an end, I embrace youall a hundred times; father, mother, Gredel, Cousin George, and CousinMarie Anne.
"Your son, "JACOB WEBER.
"I forgot to tell you that several out of our battalion escaped fromPhalsbourg before and after the muster-call of the prisoners: in thenumber was Jean Baptiste Werner. It is said that they have joinedGaribaldi: I wish I was with them. The Germans tell us that if theycan catch them they will shoot them down without pity; yes, but theywon't let themselves be caught; especially Jean Baptiste; he is asoldier indeed! If we had but two hundred thousand of his sort, theseBadeners would not be bothering us with their haricot-soup, and theircannons full of grape-shot.
"RASTADT, _January_ 6, 1871."
From that moment my wife only thought of seeing Jacob again; she madeup her bundle, put into her basket sundry provisions, and in a coupleof days started for Rastadt.
I put no hindrance in her way, thinking she would have no rest untilshe had embraced our boy.
Gredel was quite easy, knowing that Jean Baptiste Werner was withGaribaldi. I even think she had had news from him; but she showed usnone of his letters, and had again begun to talk about hermarriage-portion, reminding me that her mother had had a hundred louis,and that she ought to have the same. She insisted upon knowing whereour money was hidden, and I said to her, "Search; if you can find it,it is yours."
Girls who want to be married are so awfully selfish; if they can onlyhave the man they want, house, family, native land, all is one to them.They are not all like that; but a good half. I was so annoyed withGredel that I began to wish her Jean Baptiste would come back, that Imight marry them and count out her money.
But more serious affairs were then attracting the eyes of all Alsaceand France.
Gambetta had been blamed for having detached Bourbaki's army to oursuccor by raising the blockade of Belfort. It has been said that thismovement enabled the combined forces of Prince Frederick Charles, andof Mecklenburg, to fall upon Chanzy and overwhelm him, and that our twocentral armies ought to have naturally supported each other. Possibly!I even believe that Gambetta committed a serious error in dividing ourforces: but, it must be acknowledged, that if the winter had not beenagainst us--if the cold had not, at that very crisis of our fate,redoubled in intensity, preventing Bourbaki from advancing with hisguns and warlike stores with the rapidity necessary to prevent DeWerder from fortifying his position and receivingreinforcements--Alsace would have been delivered, and we might evenhave attacked Germany itself by the Grand Duchy of Baden. Then howmany men would have risen in a moment! Many times George and I,watching these movements, said to each other: "If they only get toMutzig, we will go!"
Yes, in war everything cannot succeed; and when you have against younot only the enemy, but frost, ice, snow, bad roads; whilst the enemyhave the railroads, which they had been stupidly allowed to take at thebeginning of the campaign, and are receiving without fatigue or danger,troops, provisions, munitions of war, whatever they want; then if goodplans don't turn out successful, it is not the last but the firstcomers who are to be blamed.
But for the heavy snows which blocked up the roads, Bourbaki would havesurprised Werder. The Germans were expecting this, for all at once therequisitions began again. The Landwehr, this time from Metz, andcommanded by officers in spectacles, began to pass through ourvillages; they were the last that we saw; they came from the farthestextremity of Prussia. I heard them say that they had been three daysand three nights on the railway; and now they were continuing theirroad to Belfort by forced marches, because other troops from Paris werecrowding the Lyons railway.
George could not understand how men should come from Paris, and said:"Those people are lying! If the troops engaged in the siege werecoming away, the Parisians would come out and follow them up."
At the same time we learned that the Germans were evacuating Dijon,Gray, Vesoul, places which the francs-tireurs of Garibaldi immediatelyoccupied; that Werder was throwing up great earthworks against Belfort;things were looking serious; the last forces of Germany were cominginto action.
Then, too, the _Independance_ talked of nothing but peace, and theconvocation of a National Assembly at Bordeaux; the English newspapersbegan again to commiserate our loss, as they had done at the beginningof the war, saying that after the first battle her Majesty the Queenwould interpose between us. I believe that if the French hadconquered, the English Government would have cried, "Halt--enough! toomuch blood has flown already."
But as we were conquered, her Majesty did not come and separate us; nodoubt she was of opinion that everything was going on very favorablyfor her son-in-law, the good Fritz!
So all this acting on the part of the newspapers was beginning again;and if Bourbaki's attempt had prospered, the outcries, the finephrases, the tender feelings for our poor human race, civilization andinternational rights would have redoubled, to prevent us from pushingour advantages too far.
Unhappily, fortune was once more against us. When I say fortune, letme be understood: the Germans, who had no more forces to draw fromtheir own country, still had some to spare around Paris, which theycould dispose of without fear: they felt no uneasiness in that quarter,as we have learned since.
If General Trochu had listened to the Parisians, who were unanimous intheir desire to fight, Manteuffel could not have withdrawn from thebesieging force 80,000 men to crush Bourbaki, 120 leagues away; norGeneral Van Goeben 40,000 to fall upon Faidherbe in the north; norcould others again have joined Frederick Charles to overwhelm Chanzy.This is clear enough! The fortune of the Germans at this time was notdue to the genius of their chiefs, or the courage and the number oftheir men; but to the inaction of General Trochu! Yes, this is thefact!
But it must also be owned that Gambetta, Bourbaki, Faidherbe,and Chanzy ought to have allowed for this.
However, France has not perished yet; but she has been most unfortunate!
The cold was intense. Bourbaki was approaching Belfort; he tookEsprels and Villersexel at the point of the bayonet; then all Alsacerejoiced to hear that he was at Montbeliard, Sar-le-Chateau, Vyans,Comte-Henaut and Chusey; retaking all this land of good people, moreill-fated still than we, since they knew not a word of German, and thatbad race bore them ill-will in consequence.
Our confidence was returning. Every evening George and I, by thefireside, talked of these affairs; reading the paper three or fourtimes over, to get at something new.
My wife had returned from Rastadt full of indignation against theBadeners, for not having allowed her to see Jacob, or even to send himthe provisions she had brought. She had only seen, at a distance, thewooden huts, with their four lines of sentinels, the palisades, and theditches that surrounded them. Gredel, Marie Anne, and she, talked onlyof these poor prisoners; vowing to make a pilgrimage to Marienthal ifJacob came back safe and sound.
Fatigue, anxiety, the high price of provisions, the fear of comingshort altogether if the war went on, all this gave us matter forserious reflection; and yet we went on hoping, when the _Independance_brought us the report of General Chanzy upon the combats at Montfort,Champagne, Parigne, l'Eveque, and other places where our columns,overpowered by the 120,000 men of Frederick Charles and the Duke ofMecklenburg, had been obliged to retire to their last lines around LeMans. That evening, as we were going home upon the stroke of ten,George said: "I don't believe much in pilgrimages, although several ofmy old shipmates in the _Boussole_ had full confidence in our Lady ofGood Deliverance: I have never made any vows; these are no part of myprinciples; but I promise to drink two bottles of good wine withChristian in honor of the Republic, and to distribute one for everypoor man in the village if we gain the great battle of to-morrow.According to Chanzy our army is driven to bay; it has fallen back uponits last position, and the great blow will be struck. Good-night."
"Good-night, George and Marie Anne."
We went out by moonlight, the hoar-frost was glittering on the ground;it was the 15th of January, 1871.
The next day no _Independance_ arrived, nor the next day; it often hadmissed, and would come three or four numbers together. Fresh rumorshad spread; there was a report of a lost battle; the Landwehr atPhalsbourg were rejoicing and drinking champagne.
On the 18th, about two in the afternoon, the foot-postman Michelarrived. I was waiting at my cousin's. We were walking up and down,smoking and looking out of the windows; Michel was still in thepassage, when George opened the door and cried: "Well?" "Here theyare, Monsieur Weber."
My cousin sat at his desk. "Now we will see," said he, changing color.
But instead of beginning with the first, he opened the second, and readaloud that report of Chanzy's in which he said that all was going onwell the evening before; but that a panic which seized upon the BretonMobiles had disordered the army, without the possibility of either heor the Vice-Admiral Jaurreguiberry being able to check or stop it; sothat the Prussians had rushed pell-mell into the unhappy city of LeMans, mingled with our own troops, and taken a large body of prisoners.
I saw the countenance of my cousin change every moment; at last, heflung the journal upon the table, crying: "All is lost!"
It was as if he had pierced my heart with a knife. Yet I took up thepaper and read to the end. Chanzy had not lost all hope of rallyinghis army at Laval, and Gambetta was hastening to join him, to supporthim with his courageous spirit.
"There now," said George, "look at that!"
Placiard was passing the house arm-in-arm with a Landwehr officer,followed by a few men; they were making requisitions, and entered thehouse opposite. "There is the Plebiscite in flesh and blood. Now thatscoundrel is working for his Imperial Majesty William I., for theGermans have their emperor, as we have had ours; they will soon learnthe cost of glory; each has his turn! By and by, when the reins aretightened, these poor Germans will be looking in every direction to seeif the French are not revolting; but France will be tranquil: theythemselves will have riveted their own chains, and their masters willdraw the reins tighter and tighter, saying: 'Now, then, Mechle!*Attention! eyes right; eyes left. Ah! you lout, do you make a wryface? I will show you that might is right in Germany, as everywhereelse, if you don't know it already. Whack! how do you like that,Mechle? Aha! did you think you were getting victories for GermanFatherland and German liberty, idiot? You find out now that it was toput yourself again under the yoke, as after 1815; just to show you thedifference between the noble German lord and a brute of your own sort.Get on, Mechle!'"
* Nickname for the Germans, answering to the English "John Bull," andthe French "Jaques Bonhomme."
George exclaimed: "How miserable to be surprised and deluged as we havebeen daily by six hundred thousand Germans, and to have our hands boundlike culprits, without arms, munitions, orders, chiefs, or anything!Ah! the deputies of the majority who voted for war would not demandcompulsory service; they feared to arm the nation. They would not riskthe bodies of their own sons; the people alone should fight to defendtheir places, their salaries, their chateaux, their property of everysort! Miserable self-seekers! they are the cause of our ruin! theirnames should be exposed in every commune, to teach our children toexecrate them."
He was becoming embittered, and it is not surprising, for every day weheard of fresh reverses: first the surrender of Veronne, just whenFaidherbe was coming to deliver it, and the retreat of our army of theNorth upon Lille and Cambrai, before the overwhelming forces of VanGoeben, fresh from Paris; then the grand attack of Bourbaki fromMontbeliard to Mont Vaudois, which he had pursued three successivedays, the 15th, 16th, and 17th January without success, on account ofthe reinforcements which Werder had received, and the horrible state ofthe roads, broken up by the rain and the snow; lastly, the arrival ofManteuffel, with his 80,000 men, also from Paris--to cut off hisretreat.
Then we understood that the Landwehr had been right in telling us thatthey were getting reinforcements from Paris; and George, who understoodsuch things better than I, suddenly conceived a horror for those whowere commanding there.
"Either," he said, "the Parisians are afraid to fight--which I cannotbelieve, for I know them--or the men in command are incapable--ortraitors. Hitherto relieving armies have been sent in support of abesieged city; now we see the besiegers of a city twice as strong asthemselves in men, arms, and munitions of every kind, detaching wholearmies to crush our troops fighting in the provinces: the thing isincredible! I am certain that the Parisians are demanding to be ledout, especially as they are suffering from famine. Well, if sortieswere taking place, the Germans would want all their men down there, andwould be unable to come and overwhelm our already overtasked armies."
Let them explain these things as they will, George was right. Sincethe Germans were able to send away from Paris 40,000 men in onedirection, and 80,000 in another, evidently they were free to undertakewhat they pleased; instead of surrounding the city with troops, theymight have set helmets and cloaks upon sticks all round, forscarecrows, as they do to keep sparrows out of a corn-field.
Here, then, is how we have lost: it was the incapacity of the man whowas commanding at Paris, and the weakness of the Government ofDefence--and especially of Monsieur Jules Favre!--who, when they oughtto have replaced this orator by a man of action, as Gambetta demanded,had not the courage to fulfil their duty. Everybody knows this; whynot say it openly?
The only thing which cheered us a little about the end of this terriblemonth of January, was to learn that the francs-tireurs had blown up thebridge of Fontenoy, on the railroad between Nancy and Toul. But ourjoy was not of long duration; for three or four days after,proclamations posted at the door of the mayoralty-house gave noticethat the Germans had utterly consumed the village of Fontenoy, topunish the inha
bitants for not having denounced the francs-tireurs; andthat all we Lorrainers were condemned, for the same offence, to pay anextraordinary contribution of ten millions to his Majesty, the Emperorof Germany. At the same time, as the French workmen were refusing torepair this bridge, the Prussian prefect of La Menotte wrote to theMayor of Nancy:
"If to-morrow, Tuesday, January 24, at twelve o'clock, five hundred menfrom the dockyards of the city are not at the station, first theforemen, then a certain number of the workmen, will be arrested andshot immediately."
This prefect's name was Renard--"Count Renard."
I mention this that his name may not be forgotten.
But all this was nothing, compared with what was to follow. Onemorning the Prussians had given me a few sacks of corn to grind; Idared not refuse to work for them, as they would have crushed me withblows and requisitions: they might have carried me off nearly to Metzagain, they might even have shot me. I had pleaded the snow, the ice,the failure of the water, which prevented me from grinding;unfortunately, rain had fallen in abundance, the snow was melting, themill-dam was full, and on the 2d or 3d of February (I am not surewhich, I am so confused) I was piling up the sacks of that wicked setin my mill; Father Offran and Catherine were helping; Gredel, upstairs,was dressing herself, after sweeping the house and lighting the kitchenfire. It was about eight o'clock in the morning, when looking out intothe street by chance, where the water was rattling down the gutters, Isaw George and Marie Anne coming.
My cousin was taking long strides, his wife coming after him; fartheron a Landwehr was coming too: the people were sweeping before theirdoors, without caring how they bespattered the passers-by. George,near the mill, cried out, "Do you know what is going on?"
"No--what?"
"Well, an armistice has been concluded for twenty-one days; the Parisforts are given up: the Prussians may set fire to the city when theyplease. Now they may send all their troops and all their artilleryagainst Bourbaki; for the armistice does not extend to the operationsin the east."
George was pale with excitement, his voice shook. Gredel, at the topof the stairs, was hastily twisting her hair into a knot.
"Look, Christian," said my cousin, pulling a paper out of his pocket;"the armies of Bourbaki and Garibaldi are surrendered by thisarmistice. Manteuffel has come down from Paris with 80,000 men tooccupy the passes of the Jura in their rear: the unfortunate men arecaught as in a vice, between him and Werder; and all who have escapedfrom the hands of the Prussians and taken service again, like our poorMobiles of Phalsbourg, will be shot!"
While cousin was speaking, Gredel had come downstairs, without evenputting on her slippers; she was leaning against him, as pale as death,trying to read over his shoulder; when suddenly she tore the paper fromhis hands. George wished he had said nothing; but it was too late!
Gredel, after having read with clinched teeth, ran off like a madwoman, uttering fearful screams: "Oh! the wretches! ... Oh! my poorJean Baptiste! ... Oh! the thieves! ... Oh! my poor Jean Baptiste!"
She seemed to be seeking something to fight with. And as we stoodconfounded at her outcries, I said: "Gredel, for Heaven's sake don'tscandalize us in this way. The people will hear you from the other endof the village!" She answered in a fury: "Hold your tongue! You arethe cause of it all!"
"I!" said I, indignantly.
"Yes, you!" she shrieked, with a terrible flashing in her eyes: "you,with your Plebiscite; deceiving everybody by promising them peace! Youdeserve to be along with Bazaine and the rest of them."
And my wife cried: "That girl will be the death of us."
She had sat down upon the stairs. Marie Anne, with her hands clasped,said: "Do forgive her; her mind is going."
Never had I felt so humbled; to be treated thus by my own daughter!But Gredel respected nothing now; and Cousin George, trying to get in aword, she exclaimed: "You! you! an old soldier! Are you not ashamed ofstaying here, instead of going to fight? The Landwehr are as old asyou, with their gray hairs and their spectacles; they don't makespeeches; they all march. And that's why we are beaten!"
At last I became furious; and I was looking for my cowhide behind thedoor, to bring her to her senses, when, unfortunately, a Landwehr camein to ask if the flour was ready. The moment Gredel caught sight ofhim, she uttered such a savage shriek that my ears still tingle withit, and in a second she had laid hold of her hatchet; George hadscarcely time to seize her by her twisted back hair, when the hatchethad flown from her hand, whizzing through the air, and was quiveringthree inches deep in the door-post.
The Landwehr, an elderly man, with great eyes and a red nose, had seenthe steel flash past close to his ear; he had heard it whiz, and asGredel was struggling with George, crying: "Oh, the villain; I havemissed him!" he turned, and ran off at the top of his speed. I ran tothe mill-dam, supposing he was going to the mayor's, but no, he ran agreat deal farther than that, and never stopped till he reached Wechem.
Then Gredel became aware that she had made a mistake; she went up intoher room, put on her shoes, took her basket, went into the kitchen fora knife and a loaf, and then she left the house; running down the otherside of the hill to gain the Krapenfelz, where our cow was with severalothers, under the charge of the old rag-dealer.
"This is a very bad business," said George, fixing his eyes upon me;"that Landwehr will denounce you: this evening the Prussian gendarmeswill be here. I'm sure I don't know, my poor Christian, where you gotthat girl from; amongst those who have gone before us, there must havebeen some very different from your poor mother, and grandmotherCatherine."
"What would you have," said Marie Anne; "she is fond of her JeanBaptiste." And I thought: "If he but had her now; it is not I wouldrefuse them permission to marry now; no, not I. I only wish they weremarried already!"
I was thinking how I might settle this dangerous business. George saidwe must overtake the Landwehr, and slip three or four cent-sous piecesin his hand, to induce him to hold his tongue: the Prussians aresoftened with money. But where could he be found now? How was he tobe overtaken? I had no longer my two beautiful nags. So I resolved toleave it all to Providence.
To my great surprise, the Landwehr never returned. That same day twoother Germans, with Lieutenant Hartig, came to take an invoice of theflour, without mentioning that affair: one would have thought thatnothing had occurred. The next day, and the day after that, we werestill in painful expectation; but that man gave no sign of appearing.No doubt he must have been a marauder; one of those base fellows whoenter houses without orders, to receive requisitions of every kind, tosell again in the neighboring villages; such things had been done morethan once since the arrival of the Germans. This is the conclusion Icame to by and by; but at that time the fear of seeing that fellowreturning with the gendarmes, left me no peace; every minute my wife,standing at the door, would say: "Christian, run! Here are thePrussian gendarmes coming!"
For a cow, or a Jew astride upon a donkey at the end of the road, shewould throw one into fits.
Gredel remained a week in the woods in the Krapenfelz. Every day thewoodman brought her news of what was going on in the village. At lastshe came back, laughing; she went up into her room to change herclothes, and resumed her work without any allusion to the past. We didnot want to start the subject of Jean Baptiste again; but she herself,seeing us dispirited, at last said to us: "Pooh! it's all right now.There; look at that!"
It was a letter from Jean Baptiste Werner, which she had received amongthe rocks on the Krapenfelz. In that letter, which I read with muchastonishment, Werner related that he had at first wished to joinGaribaldi at Dijon; but that for want of money he had been obliged tostop at Besancon, where the volunteers of the Vosges and of Alsace werebeing organized; that upon the arrival of Bourbaki, he had enlisted asa gunner in the 20th corps. Two days after there were engagements atEsprels and Villersexel, where more than four thousand Prussians hadremained on the field. The cold was extraordinary. The Prussians,repulsed by our c
olumns, had retired from village to village, on theother side of the Lisaine, between Montbeliard and Mont Vaudois. ThereWerner, behind a deep ravine, had mounted batteries oftwenty-four-pounders, well protected, on three stages, one overanother; his army and his reinforcements were concentrated and securelyintrenched. In spite of this, Bourbaki, wanting to relieve Belfort anddescend into Alsace, had given orders for a general assault, and allthat country, for three days, resembled a sea of smoke and flame underthe tremendous fire of the hostile armies. Unhappily, the passagecould not be forced; and the exhaustion of munitions, the fatigue, thesharp sufferings of cold and hunger--for there were no stores ofclothing and provisions in our rear--all these causes had compelled usto retire, but in the hope of renewing the assault; when all at oncethe news spread that another German army was standing in our line ofretreat, near Dole: a considerable army, from Paris. They had hurriedto get clear as far as possible by gaining Pontarlier; but these freshtroops had a great advantage over us. Werder, also, was following usup; and we were going to be surrounded on all sides around Besancon.Jean Baptiste went on to say that then Bourbaki had attempted his ownlife, and was seriously wounded; that General Clinchamp had thenassumed the command-in-chief; but that all these disasters would nothave hindered us from arriving at Lyons, across the Jura, if the Mairesof the villages had not published the armistice, causing the army toneglect to secure a line of retreat; that a great number had even laindown their arms and withdrawn into the villages; that the Prussians hadkept advancing, and that only in the evening, when they had occupiedall the passes, General Manteuffel declared that the armistice did notextend to operations in the east, and that our army must lay down theirarms, as those of Sedan and Metz had done! But the soldiers of theRepublic refused to surrender, and they had made a passage through theice, the snow, and thousands of Prussian corpses, to Switzerland.
Jean Baptiste Werner related, in this long letter, full particulars ofall that he had suffered; the attacks delivered by the corps of GeneralBillot, who was charged to protect the retreat, upon the rocks, at thefoot of precipices, in all the deep passes where the enemy lay in waitto cut off our retreat; how many of our poor fellows had perished ofcold and hunger! And then the admirable reception given to our unhappysoldiers by the noble Swiss, who had received them not as strangers,but as brothers: every town, village, and house, was opened to themwith kindness. It is manifest that the Swiss are a great people; forgreatness is not to be measured by the extent of a country, and thenumber of the inhabitants, as the Germans suppose; but by the humanityof the people, the elevation of their character, their respect forunsuccessful courage, their love of justice and of liberty.
How much help have the Swiss sent us in succor, in money, in clothing,in food, in seed corn, for our poor fellow-countrymen ruined by thewar! It came to Saverne, to Phalsbourg, to Petite Pierre--everywhere.Ah, we perceived then that heaven and earth had not altogether desertedus; we saw that there were yet brave hearts, true republicans; that allmen were not born for fire, pillage, and slaughter; that there are menin the world besides hypocrites--true Christians, inspired by Him whosaid to men: "love one another; ye are brethren." He would not haveinvented petroleum bombshells, or declared that brute-force dominatedover right, like those barbarians from the other side of the Rhine.
That letter of Jean Baptiste Werner's pleased me; it was clear that hewas a brave man and a good patriot. But in the meanwhile, the policyof Bismarck and Jules Favre went on its way. The order of the day was,"elect deputies to sit in the assembly at Bordeaux," which was todecide for peace, or the continuance of the war: the twenty-one days'armistice had no other object, it was said.
So those who did not care to become Prussians took up arms, George andI the first; myself with the greatest zeal, for every day I reproachedmyself with that abominable Plebiscite as a crime. And now began theold story again: no Legitimists, no Bonapartists, no Orleanists couldbe found; all cried: "We are Republicans. Vote for us!"
But in every part of the country through which the Prussians had gone,the Plebiscite was remembered; the people were beginning to understandthat this unworthy farce was our ruin, and that men should be judged bytheir actions, not their words.
At Strasbourg, at Nancy, all who desired to remain French nominated twolists of old republicans, who immediately started for Bordeaux.Gambetta was elected by us and by La Meurthe; he was also elected inmany other departments, with Thiers, Garibaldi, Faidherbe, Chanzy, etc.
These elections once more revived our hopes. We supposed thateverything had taken place in the West and the South as with us.
Gambetta, who never lost his sound judgment in critical moments, haddeclared that all the old official deputies of Bonaparte, all thesenators, councillors of State, and prefects of the Empire, weredisqualified for election. George commended him. "When a spendthriftdevours all his living in debauchery, he is put under restraint; muchmore, therefore," he urged, "ought men to be restrained who havedevoured the wealth of the nation and put our two finest provinces injeopardy. All these men ought forever to be held incapable ofexercising political functions."
But Bismarck, who relied chiefly on the old Imperial functionaries, byway of testifying his gratitude to the _honest man_ for all he had donefor Prussia--for his noble behavior at Sedan, and his gift of Metz tohis Majesty, William--protested against this manifesto by Gambetta: hedeclared that the elections would not then be free, and that libertywas so dear to his heart, that he had rather break the armistice thanin any way cramp the freedom of the elections.
George, on hearing this, broke out into a rage. "What," he cried,"this Bismarck, who has warned the Prussian deputies to be careful oftheir expressions in speaking of the nobleness and the majesty of KingWilliam, 'because laws exist in Prussia against servants who presume toinsult their masters'--this very Bismarck comes here to defend liberty,and support the accomplices of Bonaparte! Oh! these defenders ofliberty!"
Unhappily, all this was useless; the Prussians were already in theforts of Paris, and the menaces of Bismarck had more weight in Francethan the words of Gambetta. Therefore, once more we had to yield tohis Majesty, William, and many of our deputies are indebted to him fortheir admission into the Chambers of Bordeaux.
These defenders of the Republic immediately showed that they were notungrateful to Bismarck; for they hissed Garibaldi, who had come fromItaly, old, sick, and infirm, with his two sons, to fight the enemiesof France, and uphold justice, when all Europe held aloof!
Garibaldi was not even allowed to reply: these representatives of thepeople hissed him down! He calmly withdrew!
The Sunday following--I am ashamed to say it--our cure Daniel, and manyother cures in our neighborhood, preached that Garibaldi was a_canaille_. I am not condemning them; I am simply stating a fact.They had received orders from their bishops, and they obeyed; for thepoor country priest is at his bishop's mercy, and under his orders,like a whip in a driver's hand; if he disobeys, he is turned out! Iknow that many would rather have been silent than said such things, andI pity them!
Well, Bismarck might well laugh; he had more friends among us than wasbelieved. Those who want to make their profits out of nations, alwayscome to an understanding; their interests and their enemies are thesame.
Then the Assembly of Bordeaux voted peace. No hard matter; onlyinvolving the sacrifice of Alsace and Lorraine, and five milliards asan indemnity for the trouble which the Prussians had taken inbombarding, devastating, and stripping us!
Then our unhappy deputies of Alsace and Lorraine were declared to beGerman by their French brothers, against every feeling of justice; fornobody in the world had the right to make Germans of us; to rend usfrom the body of our French mother-country, and fling us bleeding intothe barbarian's camp, as a lump of living flesh is thrown to a wildbeast, to satisfy it; no, no one in the world had this right. We alonefreely ought to choose, and decide by our own votes, whether we wouldbecome Germans or remain French. But with Bismarck and William, ri
ght,liberty, and justice are powerless; might is everything. Our sorrowingdeputies at last protested:
"The representatives of Alsace and Lorraine, previous to anynegotiations for peace, have laid upon the table of the NationalAssembly a declaration, by which they affirm, in the clearest and mostemphatic language, that their will and their right is to remainFrenchmen.
"Delivered up, in contempt of justice, and by a hateful exercise ofpower, to the dominion of the foreigner, we have one last sad duty tofulfil.
"We again declare null and void a compact which disposes of us againstour consent.
"The revindication of our rights remains forever open to each and all,after the form and in the measure which our consciences may dictate.
"In taking leave of this Chamber, in which it would be a lowering ofour dignity to sit longer, and in spite of the bitterness of oursorrow, our last impulse is one of gratitude for the men who for sixmonths have never ceased to defend us; and we are filled with a deepand unalterable love for our mother-country, from which we areviolently torn.
"We will ever follow you with our prayers; and with unshaken confidencewe await the future day when regenerated France shall resume the courseof her high destiny.
"Your brothers of Alsace and Lorraine, separated at this moment fromthe common family, away from their home, will ever cherish a filialaffection for their beloved France, until the day when she shall cometo reclaim her place among us."
These were their words.
Monsieur Thiers asked them if they knew any other way of saving France?No reply was made. Unfortunately there was none: after thecapitulation of Paris, the sacrifice of an arm was needful to save thebody.
Half the deputies were already thinking of other things; peace made,they only thought of naming a king, and of decapitalizing Paris, as thenewspapers said, to punish it for having proclaimed the Republic! Allthese people, who had presented themselves before the electors withprofessions of republicanism, were royalists.
Gambetta, having accepted the representation of the Bas Rhin (Alsace),left the chamber with the deputies; and other old republicans,contemptuously hissed whenever they opened their mouths, gave in theirresignations.
Paris was agitated. A rising was apprehended.
About that time, early in March, 1871, Prussian tax-collectors,controllers, _gardes generaux_, and other functionaries, came toreplace our own; we were warned that the French language would beabolished in our schools, and that the brave Alsacians who felt anywish to join the armies of the King of Prussia, would be met with everypossible consideration; they might even be admitted into the guard ofhis Royal and Imperial Majesty. About this time, an old friend ofCousin George's, Nicolas Hague, a master saddler, a wealthy and highlyrespectable man, came to see him from Paris.
Nicolas Hague had bought many vineyards in Alsace; he had planned,before the war, to retire amongst us, as soon as he had settled hisaffairs; but after all the cruelties perpetrated by the Germans, andseeing our country fallen into their hands, he was in haste to sell hisvineyards again, not caring to live amongst such barbarians.
George and Marie Anne were delighted to receive this old friend; andimmediately an upstairs room was got ready for him, and he made himselfat home.
He was a man of fifty, with red ears, a kind of collar of beard aroundhis face, large, velvet waistcoat adorned with gold chains and seals; athorough Alsacian, full of experience and sound common-sense.
His wife, a native of Bar-le-Duc, and his two daughters were stayingwith their relations; they were resting, and recruiting their strengthafter the sufferings and agonies of the siege; he was as busy aspossible getting rid of his property; for he looked upon it as adisgrace to bring into the world children destined to have their facesslapped, in honor of the King of Prussia.
I remember that on the second day after his arrival, as we were alldining together at my cousin's, after having explained to us his views,Nicolas Hague began telling us the miseries of the siege of Paris. Hetold us that during the whole of that long winter, every day, were seenbefore the bakers' shops and the butchers' stalls strings of old menhalf clothed, and poor women holding their children, discolored withthe cold, close in their arms, waiting three or four hours in rain,snow, and wind, for a small piece of black bread, or of horse flesh;which often never came! Never had he heard any of these unhappy peopleexpressing any desire to surrender; but superior officers and staffofficers had shamelessly declared, from the earliest days of the siege,that Paris could not hold out! And these men, formerly so proud oftheir rank, their epaulettes, and their titles, who were solely chargedto defend us, and to uphold the honor of the nation, discouraged bytheir language those who were trusting in them, and whose bread theyhad eaten for years passed in useless reviews and parades, in frivolousfetes at St. Cloud, at Compiegne, the Tuileries, and elsewhere.
According to Nicolas Hague, all our disasters, from Sedan to thecapitulation of Paris, were attributable to the disaffection of thestaff officers, the committees, and those former Bonapartistplace-holders, who knew well that if the Republic drove out thePrussians, nobody in the world would be able to destroy it; and as theydid not care for the Republic, they acted accordingly.
"There is a great outcry at the present moment against General Trochu,"said he, "principally got up by the Bonapartists, who, in their hearts,reproach him with having supported France rather than their dynasty.They make him responsible for all our calamities; and many Republicansare simple enough to believe them. But, when it is remembered thatthis man arrived only at the last moment, when all was lost already;when the Prussians were advancing by forced marches upon Paris; whenMacMahon was forsaking the capital, _by order of the Emperor_, to go toSedan, to get the army crushed down there which was to have covered us;when it is remembered that at that moment Paris had no arms, nomunitions of war, no provisions, no troops; that the wholeneighborhood, men, women, and children, were taking refuge in the city;that wagons full of furniture, hay, and straw were choking the streets;that order had to be restored amidst this abominable confusion, theforts armed, the National Guard organized, the inhabitants put uponrations, etc.; and, then, that all those thousands of men, who did notknow even how to keep in ranks, were to be taught to handle a musket,to march, and, finally, led under fire;--when all these things areremembered, it must be acknowledged that, for one man, it was too much,and that, if faults have been committed, it is not General Trochu whois to be blamed, but the miserable men who brought us to such a pass.Above all, let us be just. It is quite clear that, if General Trochuhad had under his orders real soldiers, commanded by real officers, hemight have made great sorties, broken the lines, or at least kept theGermans busy round the place. But how could I, Nicolas Hague, saddler,Claude Frichet, the grocer round the corner, and a couple of hundredthousand others like us, who did not even know the word of command--howcould we fight like old troops? We were not wanting in good will, norin courage; but every man to his trade. As for our percussion rifles,and our flint locks, and a hundred other discouraging things, you feelutterly cast down when you know that the enemy are well armed andsupported by a terrible artillery. Trochu was well aware of thesethings; and I believe that neither he, nor Jules Favre, nor Gambetta,nor any of those who declared themselves Republicans on the 4th ofSeptember, are responsible for our misfortunes, but only Bonaparte andhis crew!"
At last, having heard Nicolas Hague explain his views, seeing that wehad been delivered up by selfish men--as Cousin Jacques Desjardins hadforeseen four months before--but that the Republic was in existence,and that no doubt justice would be done upon all who had brought usinto this sad condition, by which means we might rise some day and getour turn, I had resolved to sell my mill, my land, and everything thatbelonged to me in the country, and go and settle in France; for thesight of Placiard and the other Prussian functionaries, who werefraternizing together, and shouting, "Long live old Germany!" made myblood boil. I could not stand it.
Cousin George, to whom I mentioned m
y design, said: "Then, if all theAlsacians and Lorrainers go, in five or six years all our country willbe Prussian. Instead of going to America, the Germans will pour inhere by hundreds of thousands; they will find in our country, almostfor nothing, fields, meadows, vineyards, hop-grounds, noble forests,the finest lands, the richest and most productive in Central Europe.How delighted would Bismarck and William be if they saw us decamping!No, no; I'll stay. But this does not mean that I am becoming aPrussian--quite the contrary. But in this ill-drawn treaty there aretwo good articles; the first affirms that the Alsacians and theLorrainers, dwelling in Alsace and Lorraine, may, up to the month ofOctober, 1872, declare their intention of remaining French, oncondition of possessing an estate in France; the second affirms thatthe French may retain their landed estates in Germany.
"Well, I at once elect to remain a Frenchman, and I take up my abode inParis with my friend Nicolas Hague, who will be happy to do me thisservice. I don't want to become a burgomaster, a municipal councillor,or anything of that kind; it will be enough for me to possess goodland, a thriving business, and a pleasant house. Yes--I intend todeclare at once; and if all who are able to secure an abode in Francewill do as I am doing, we shall have German authorities over us, it istrue, but the land and the people will remain French and the land andthe men are everything.
"Were not the old prefets and sous-prefets of the _honest man_intruders, just as much as these men are? Did they care for anythingbut making us pay what the chambers had voted, and compelling us toelect for deputies old fogies who would be safe to vote whichever waythe Emperor required them? Did they trouble themselves about us, ourcommerce, our trade, any farther than merely to draw from us the bestpart of our profits for themselves, their friends, their acquaintances,and all the supporters of the dynasty of the perjurer?
"These new prefets, these _kreis-directors_, these burgomasters, setover us to defend the Prussian dynasty, will not concern us much morethan the others did. At first they will try mildness; and as we havebeen well able to remain French under the prefets of Bonaparte, so wemay live and remain French under those of Emperor William.
"My principal concern is that a large majority should declare as I amabout to do. The fear is lest the Placiards, and other mayors of theEmpire kept in their places by the Prussians, will be able to turnaside the people from declaring themselves as Frenchmen, byintimidating them with threats of being looked upon suspiciously, oreven of being expelled; the fear is lest these fellows should keep backday after day those who are afraid of deciding: for when once the dayis past, those who have not declared for France will bePrussians--their children will serve and be subject to blows at the ageof twenty, for old Germany; and those who have already fled into Francewill be forced to return or renounce their inheritance forever.
"My chief hope now is that the French journals, which are always sobusy saying useless things, will now, without fail, warn the Alsaciansand Lorrainers of their danger, and explain to them that if theydeclare for France their persons and their property will be guaranteedin safety by the treaty; but if they neglect to do so, their personsand their property fall under the Prussian laws. They would even dowell to furnish a clear and simple form of declaration. By this step,all who are interested would be clearly informed, and these paperswould have done the greatest service to France.
"As for me, here I stay! I am here upon my own land; I have bought it;I have paid for it with the sweat of my brow. I will pay the taxes; Iwill hold my tongue, that I may be neither worried nor driven away. Iwill sell my crops to the Germans as dearly as I can; I will employnone but Frenchmen; and if the Republic acquires strength, as I hope itwill--for now the people see what Monarchies have been able to do forus--if the nation transacts its own business wisely, sensibly, withmoderation, good order, and reflection, she will soon rise again, andwill once more become powerful. In ten years our losses will berepaired: we shall possess well-informed constituencies, nationalarmies, upright administrations, a commissariat, and a staff verydifferent from that which we have known.
"Then let the French return; they will find us, as before, ready toreceive them with open arms, and to march at their sides.
"But if they pursue their old course of _coups d'etat_ and revolutions;if the adventurers, the Jesuits, and the egotists form anothercoalition against justice; if they recommence their disgraceful farcesof plebiscites and constitutions by yes and no, with bayonets pointedat people's throats and with electors of whom one-half cannot read; ifthey bestow places again by patronage and recommendation of friends,instead of honestly throwing them open to competition; if they refuseelementary education and compulsory military service; if they willhave, as in past times, an ignorant populace, and an army filled withmercenaries, in order that the sons of nobles and bourgeois may remainpeaceably at home, whilst the poor labor like beasts of burden, and goand meet their deaths upon battle-fields for masters they have noconcern with:--in a word, if they overthrow the Republic and set upMonarchy again, then what miseries may we not expect? Poor France,rent by her own children, will end like Poland; all our conquests of'89 will be lost. Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Holland, all the freenations of the Continent will share our fate; the great splay feet ofthe Germans will overspread Europe, and we unhappy Alsacians andLorrainers will be forced to bow the head under the yoke, or go off toAmerica."
This speech of George's made me reflect, and I resolved to wait.
Many Alsacians and Lorrainers have thought the same; and this is why M.Thiers was right in saying that the Republic is the form of governmentwhich least divides us: it is also the only one which can save us. Anyother form of government upon which Legitimists, Orleanists, andBonapartists could well meet on common ground, would end in ourdestruction. If it should happen that one of these parties succeeds inplacing its prince upon the throne, the next day all the others wouldunite and overthrow it; and the Germans, taking advantage of ourdivision, would seize upon the Franche Comte and Champagne.
The Deputies of the Eight ought to reflect well upon this. It is toreinstate the country, not a party, that they are at Versailles; it isto restore harmony to our distracted country, and not to sow freshdissensions. I appeal to their patriotism, and, if this is not enough,to their prudence. New _coups d'etat_ would precipitate us into freshrevolutions more and more terrible. The nation, whose desire is forpeace, labor, order, liberty, education, and justice for all, is wearyof seeing itself torn to pieces by Emperors and Kings; the nation mightbecome exasperated against these anglers after Kings in troubledwaters, and the consequences might become terrible indeed.
Let them ponder well; it is their duty to do so.
And all these princes, too--all these shameless pretenders, who make noscruple of coming to divide us at the crisis when union alone can saveus--when the German is occupying all the strong places on the frontier,and is watching the opportunity to rend away another portion of ourcountry! These men who slip into the army through favor; whosedisaffected newspapers impede the revival of trade, in the hope ofdisgusting the people with the Republic! These princes who one daypledge their word of honor, and the day after withdraw it, and who arenot ashamed to claim millions in the midst of the general ruin. Yes,these men must conduct themselves differently, if they don't wish tocall to remembrance their father Louis Philippe, intriguing with theBonapartists to dethrone his benefactor Charles X.; and theirgrandfather, Philippe Egalite, intriguing with the Jacobins and votingthe death of Louis XVI. to save his fortune, whilst his son wasintriguing in the army of the North with the traitor Dumouriez to marchupon Paris and overthrow the established laws.
But the day of intrigues has passed by!
Bonaparte has stripped many besides these Princes of Orleans; he hasshot, transported, totally ruined fathers of families by thousands;their wives and their children have lost all! Not one of these unhappycreatures claim a farthing; they would be ashamed to ask anything oftheir country at such a time as this: the Princes of Orleans, alone,claim th
eir millions.
Frankly, this is not handsome.
I am but a plain miller; by hard work I have won the half of what Ipossess: but if my little fortune and my life could restore Alsace andLorraine to France, I would give them in a moment; and if my personwere a cause of division and trouble, and dangerous to the peace of mycountry, I would abandon the mill built by my ancestors, the landswhich they have cleared, those which I have acquired by work and bysaving, and I would go! The idea that I was serving my country, that Iwas helping to raise it, would be enough for me. Yes, I would go, witha full heart, but without a backward glance.
And now let us finish the story of the Plebiscite.
Jacob returned to work at the mill; Jean Baptiste Werner also came backto demand Gredel in marriage. Gredel consented with all her heart; mywife and I gave our consent cordially.
But the dowry? This was on Gredel's mind. She was not the girl tobegin housekeeping without her hundred livres! So I had again to runthe water out of the sluice to the very bottom, get into the mud again,and once more handle the pick and spade.
Gredel watched me; and when the old chest came to the light of day withits iron hoops, when I had set it on the bank, and opened the rustypadlock, and the crowns all safe and sound glittered in her eyes, thenshe melted; all was well now; she even kissed me and hung upon hermother's neck.
The wedding took place on the 1st of July last; and in spite of theunhappy times, was a joyful one.
Toward the end of the fete, and when they were uncorking two or threemore bottles of old wine, in honor of M. Thiers and all the good menwho are supporting him in founding the Republic in France, CousinGeorge announced to us that he had taken Jean Baptiste Werner intopartnership in his stone quarry. Building stone will be wanted; thebombardments and the fires in Alsace will long furnish work forarchitects, quarrymen, and masons: it will be a great and importantbusiness.
My cousin declared, moreover, that he, George Weber, would supply themoney required; that Jean Baptiste should travel to take orders andwork the quarries, and they would divide the profits equally.
M. Fingado, notary, seated at the table, drew the deeds out of hispocket, and read them to us, to the satisfaction of all.
And now things are in order, and we will try to regain by labor,economy, and good conduct, what Bonaparte lost for us by his Plebiscite.
My story is ended; let every one derive from it such reflections andinstruction as he may.
