time that you are not one of us,—have known it from the day when you
discovered that it would be money ill spent to contribute a legacy as
a proof of respect to my life work. You find my work useless,—almost
harmful; but at the same time you love Martha and Löwos, and would
like to spare Martha pain. But, my dear, if I did not feel pain what
would be the impulse for my work? Certainly not, as my enemies say,
vanity? You surely do not believe that? No, pain at the way men stick
to their barbarism is what penetrates me and compels me to oppose my
weak activity against the general inaction. If one should keep waiting
for the next century or so for things to be done of themselves, they
would never get done. After the principle of railroads was discovered
(they, too, were sufficiently opposed), locomotives and tracks had
also to be built, without waiting until a future generation should be
ripe for such a mode of travel....
The war that does not break out because of worry over the
responsibility, that is to say, because of the excess of armaments, is
not peace, for it is doubly precarious: in the first place, because
the armaments are in themselves ruinous, materially and morally, for
they exhaust all resources, they enslave and degrade men, and they
_must_ keep alive the spirit of war and the worship of force, which is
happening in all schools at the present time; secondly, because the
explosion of the powder magazine is left to depend on the arbitrary
will of a few people....
Of course disarmament—especially of a single state—cannot begin
immediately; but just as the interminable increase of armaments is the
consequence of the anarchy that prevails in the mutual relations of
states, so would disarmament be the consequence of their mutual
relations based upon law....
And if only people would not keep saying to us believers in evolution
that the progress of culture is slow, as if we did not know it! But,
because of that, to leave the first steps to the next generations and
stand still ourselves is not a correct way to apply our knowledge of
the slowness of the general movement forward; for we ought also to
know that this trifling advance of the whole mass is the result of the
greatest haste and the greatest output of energy on the part of single
atoms.
... Yes, you are right; one looks calmly into the face of the
unalterable and is spared painful disillusionment; but you are not
right in adding that with such a realization I could maintain the same
activity; for I regard the present state of things as not unalterable,
and my whole activity consists in nothing else whatever than in modest
but steady coöperation, according to my ability, in bringing about the
change.
Your scruples about the Universal Court of Arbitration now in process
of establishment rest upon an erroneous conception of the plan. That
is usually the cause of mistaken judgments. It is believed that Mr. X
is aiming at something irrational, and one therefore hesitates about
helping Mr. X. On the other hand, Mr. X knows very accurately all the
objections to what is attributed to him; unfortunately, however, the
real thing that he wants is not known....
“Share your indifference in the way I regard that ancient beast, Man,
and his constant readiness to heap up inflammables on inflammables.”
No, the “young God” in man cannot have this indifference if he is
going to conquer the ancient beast in man. The great heaps of
inflammables, which are to-day growing smaller and smaller, even
though they are still predominant, must not be left under the illusion
that their realm is inviolable; and besides,
“He is guilty of half the harm
Who, to stop it, will not lift an arm.”
What separates us two is faith. If you believed, as I do, in the
possibility of the result, you would suffer as keenly as I do from the
inertia of the world around us, but you would yourself take hold and
act, and you would find your own pain and grief a small price for the
beckoning reward; at the same time you would have the additional joys
which often stir me when I see how the work is advancing; how, here
and there, ever more numerous and ever more determined, are arising
those who demand the accomplishment of what is already granted
theoretically by the majority.
May the difference of our beliefs in peace matters in no respect
embitter our old friendship, but do not attempt any more to free me
from my worries; it is in vain. Only he can mitigate them who shares
them and helps me in the battle, but helps not because he is “won by
personal charm,” but because he believes in the possibility, in the
necessity, of this battle.
B. S.
At this period I had still other political joys and sorrows. The
persecutions of Armenians in Turkey were ever assuming more grewsome
proportions. The Balkan tribes, in their distress, put their hope in the
peace societies. One day I was surprised by the following dispatch from
Rustchuk:
June 28
Bertha von Suttner, Vienna:
A meeting attended by more than two thousand persons was held to-day
to express the wish that the twenty-third article of the Treaty of
Berlin might be made operative in Turkey. It was voted in the name of
the freedom of all the peoples of Turkey, and with a view to putting
an end to the continual shedding of blood and preventing a possible
European war, to urge you to enlist the services of the Peace League
in recommending to the European governments the enforcement of Article
23 of the Berlin Treaty.
The Macedonian Committee in Rustchuk for the
Freedom of European Turkey
Koptchef
The insurrection of the unhappy Cubans, and the Draconic method of
subjugation employed by the Spaniards, was a real paroxysm of the system
of force. General Weyler, who was hated with a deadly hatred by the
Cubans on account of his cruelties, was sent over as Governor General.
On his arrival he issued a proclamation; the neat document is “sharp,”
that must be confessed:
The death penalty for promulgation, directly or indirectly, of news
favorable to the insurrection; death for assisting in smuggling arms
or for failing to prevent same; death for the telegraph operator who
communicates news of the war to third persons; death for any one who
verbally or through the press or in any other way lowers the prestige
of Spain; death for any one who utters words favorable to the rebels,
etc.,—these punishments to be determined by a court-martial without
appeal, and all verdicts to be immediately executed.
Thereupon great indignation in the United States regarding the Spanish
dictatorship.
And now the joyful things which my diary contains:
A great event has happened: a professor in Würzburg,—his name is on all
lips,—Professor Röntgen, has discovered a way of photographing the
invisible by invisible rays. O thou wonderful world of magic! What
splendid surprises hast thou still in store for us? Invisible rays which
disclose the hidden—utterly new horizons open before us. Thus science
enriches the world without having caused any increase of poverty or
destruction. This is the true expander of empire,—a contrast to the
sword which enriches one person only by what it has snatched from
another, mangling him into the bargain!
And another joy I found in the progress of the Anglo-American
arbitration treaty for the settlement of all differences, without any
reference to the limitations that later treaties contain. It was not yet
adopted and ratified, but the negotiations were powerfully urged on both
sides of the ocean. The editors of the _Review of Reviews_ (William T.
Stead) and the _Daily Chronicle_, in coöperation with the English
pacifists, established inquiries, meetings, demonstrations, petitions—in
short, a popular movement, in which the most distinguished men of the
day were enlisted and induced to take part. At the meeting which, on the
third of March, brought six thousand people to Queen’s Hall, sympathetic
letters were read from Gladstone, Balfour, Rosebery, Herbert Spencer,
and others. The resolve of this meeting was communicated officially by
its chairman, Sir James Stansfeld, a former member of the Cabinet and
friend of Lord Salisbury’s, to the latter, whereupon the Premier replied
that the matter had the sanction of the government. On Easter Sunday
three English Church dignitaries issued a manifesto to the people. The
issuer applied directly to Cardinal Rampolla, and he replied with the
approval of the pope.
On the other side of the ocean there was the same movement in favor of
the treaty. A national convention is called in Washington for the
twenty-second and twenty-third of April for the same purpose, and the
signatories are statesmen, bishops, judges, governors. President
Cleveland is well known to be inspired with the same desire; in short,
the conclusion of the treaty may confidently be expected to take place
very soon; and a new epoch of the history of civilization will be
thereby initiated.
Now death overtook the former French Prime Minister, in whom our
movement had such a firm support,—Jules Simon. My friend Frédéric Passy
was especially affected at this bereavement. It is a matter of common
knowledge that Jules Simon had won the sympathies of Emperor William II.
I have a letter from the famous statesman and philosopher which shows
clearly with what conviction and passionate eagerness he fought against
the institution of war. I had written urging him to attend a festival
meeting of our Union in Vienna, and received the following reply:
Senate, Paris, May 24, 1892
Madam:
You ask if I will come to the meeting at Vienna. Alas! no, and I am
very sorry that I cannot. I have taken upon me all kinds of
obligations which are devouring my life without any too great
advantage to the causes I am serving. You thoughtlessly accept an
engagement and discover the next morning that if you had not alienated
your liberty you could make a better use of your energies.
I could do nothing which would be more in line with my ideas and my
tastes, if it be permitted to speak of one’s inclinations when it is a
question of duty; no, I could do nothing that would satisfy me better
than to go to Vienna and fight under your leadership and that of your
friends against this eternal war from which we are suffering in the
midst of perfect peace, and which is becoming a disease endemic in the
whole human race.
I know perfectly well that I should not say anything which has not
been said and which ought not to be repeated again this time. I do not
blush for our cause because of its antiquity, nor because of the
necessity which rests on its defenders of reiterating unceasingly the
same arguments and the same complaints. It is like a Catholic litany,
which ceaselessly repeats the same words to the same music, and which,
in its monotony, is none the less an energetic and passionate prayer.
I should have liked to mingle my voice in that chorus of thousands of
voices which will be raised in protest against the collective
assassinations, against the official massacres, against the
destruction of human life and property in this horrible hell.
As I am unable to go there and raise my voice, I find some
consolation, madam, in sending you my lamentation; and permit me to
add to it my perfect admiration for all you are doing, and the homage
of my respect.
Jules Simon
XLIX
THE SEVENTH WORLD’S PEACE CONGRESS AND THE SEVENTH INTERPARLIAMENTARY
CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST
General Türr’s visit at Harmannsdorf · Anecdotes from his life ·
Garibaldi’s appeal to the governments · Our journey to Budapest ·
Reception and preliminary festival · Opening of the Congress · From
Türr’s address · The historical Millennial Exposition · Élie Ducommun
gives a report on the year’s events · Debate: Armenian horrors · Address
to the pope · Letter from Dr. Ofner · Excursion to the Margareteninsel ·
The youngest member of the Congress · Exciting debate about dueling ·
Nepluief and his institution · Deputation from the Society for the
Protection of Animals · Conclusion of the Congress · Preliminary
festival of the Conference · Soirée at the Parkklub · Opening session in
the House of Magnates · Second session · Soirée at the Prime Minister’s
· From the protocol · Apponyi on the participation of Russia in the
conferences · The Russian consul Vasily and his action · Excursion into
the future · Visit at Maurus Jókai’s · Gala operatic performance · End
of the Conference · Opening of the “Iron Gate”
Now we were getting ready to start for Budapest, where, during the
Millennial Festival, the Seventh World’s Peace Congress and the Seventh
Interparliamentary Conference were to be held.
General Türr was chosen as chairman of the Congress. On the twenty-sixth
of August we were surprised by a dispatch from Türr announcing that he
was coming to Harmannsdorf. He had arrived in Vienna from Rome, and
before continuing his journey to Budapest he wanted to fulfill a promise
made long before to visit us in our home.
It gave us great delight, and in order to show it we prepared a grand
reception for him. Before the entrance to the palace a triumphal arch
was erected, adorned with the inscription
WELCOME, STEPHAN TÜRR
and when the carriage that brought him from the station, whither My Own
had gone to meet him, drove up, a double line of our foresters performed
a fanfare. Türr was greatly pleased with the fun.
Although he was then seventy-one years old, he was as fresh and martial
and elastic in his bearing as if he had been only fifty at most. At our
house he added another to his conquests. Not to speak of myself, our
pretty niece Maria Louise, who was twenty-two, was so fascinated by him
that she begged a cousin who was a painter and happened to be with us to
make a life-size portrait of the handsome old warrior. The portrait was
painted and she hung it in her boudoir.
My diary has the following entry under date of August 26:
On arising I find a dispatch from Türr. Wire reply and make
preparations. Arrival at four o’clock. Much fun over triumphal gate,
banners, and fanfare; looks fine. At the very first, long chat in the
billiard room about the Congress. Still much to be done in preparation,
but the larger part has already been begun by his friends, and through
his influence many advances by the government. Dinner with the whole
family. Then black coffee in the garden. Very interesting stories. On
the whole, he is full of gayety, goodness, and wit—like all men of the
highest distinction who have been condemned to death two or three times!
Of the anecdotes from his experiences, which he intermingled with his
conversation, I jotted down a few afterwards in a condensed form:
In the year 1868 he came to Vienna, commissioned by King Victor
Emmanuel, whose adjutant general he was, to bring this message to
Emperor Franz Joseph: “Tell the Emperor that in me he has not only a
good relative but also a good friend.” Türr told us in what a friendly
manner the Emperor received the message and the messenger—although he
had once been proscribed and under the ban as a revolutionist.
Türr had no specially good things to say of Bismarck. From his
conversations with the Chancellor he quoted the following remarks:
“After supper I brought Rechberg to the point of letting me buy
Lauenburg—I wanted to prove that this Austrian would sell what he had no
right to.” And again: “I have not succeeded very well in persuading my
king that we must wage war against Austria, but I have brought him to
the very edge of the ditch, and now he must leap.”
Türr was once talking with a Chinaman about civilization. “Do you know,”
remarked the man from the Middle Kingdom, “that your _liberté_,
_fraternité_, _égalité_, are very fine, but a fourth thing is
necessary.”
“And that is—?”
_Un harmonisateur._
“What is that?”
The Chinaman, making a gesture suggestive of whipping, said, _Le
bambou_.
Türr is also somewhat of the opinion that it would be a good thing if
men could have some of their bad qualities whipped out of them,
especially some of their stupidity. _La bêtise humaine est
in-com-men-su-ra-ble_ ... and _that_ word is still too short!
Ach Götter,
Schneidt’s Bretter!
With this sigh of resignation he used to conclude his observations over
this or that piece of immeasurable stupidity among men.
He told us ever so much about his life as a soldier. He had already
passed his fiftieth year in military service, for he had entered the
army in 1842. During this half century he had seen so much that was
horrible on the various battlefields, that he had consequently become an
enemy of war:
It was in May, 1860. We were marching with Garibaldi’s thousand heroes
against Palermo. In the neighborhood of the market place of Partenio
we had a glimpse of something that filled the hardest-hearted of us
with horror. Beside the road a dozen Bourbon soldiers lay dead, and a
pack of dogs were gnawing at their bodies.... We approached and saw
that the soldiers had been burned. Garibaldi expressed his indignation
at this in a terrible outbreak of rage. He could hardly hold in till
he entered the little town. The inhabitants received him with joy, but
he shouted to the exulting people in a voice trembling with wrath:
“I have seen here a barbarous deed—the partisans of freedom have no
right to give way to such inhumane cruelty....”
The people listened in deep silence to the general’s outburst of
passion. Finally some one came forward and said:
“We must acknowledge that we have done wrong, but before you condemn
us, listen to what happened here; perhaps you will find our action
comprehensible....”
And the people conducted the general to a group of houses. He was
taken into four or five of these houses and shown a heap of women and
children, all scorched and burned to cinders. “This is what the
Bourbon soldiers have done,” they cried; “they drove the women and
children into these houses, set the houses on fire, and would not let
one escape. They guarded the doors until the wretched creatures
struggled with death in the flames. We heard their screams of agony
and hurried to help them; but it was too late.... In our bitter
indignation we could only wreak our vengeance for the innocent victims
by hurling the monsters into the fire in turn, and then we brought
them out into the road.”
Türr told us also of the document that Garibaldi, after the campaign was
concluded, sent to all the crowned heads of Europe, urging them to form
a league of peace. No notice was taken of this action and it is
generally unknown. The only trace of it still remaining is the remark in
the encyclopedia under the name Garibaldi: “Brave, patriotic,
disinterested, warm-hearted, but _without deep political insight, a
visionary_.” But it was really General Türr who suggested that attempt.
Again I quote his own words:
One evening at Naples I was with Garibaldi on the balcony. The
general, according to his usual custom, was contemplating the sky full
of glorious stars. For a long time he was silent; at last he said:
“Dear friend, we have again done only half a job. God knows how much
blood will still have to be shed before the unity of Italy is
established.”
“May be ... but, general, you can be contented with the great result
that we have brought about within six months. The shedding of much
blood might be avoided if better views should obtain among the
rulers.... If, as far as it were possible, an agreement might be
entered into by the European countries; if what Henry the Fourth and
Elizabeth, Queen of England, centuries ago dreamed, and what Minister
Sully so beautifully described, could be brought about,—who knows but
the king’s noble idea might even then have been realized, if a
fanatic’s dagger had not struck him down. But it would seem as if the
time had now come to carry it out, so as to save Europe from other
dreadful massacres and battles. General, you have accomplished a great
work; you would seem to be the very one to bring an appeal to the
rulers and the nations in the interest of peace and confederation.”
We talked for a long time about this, and the very next morning
Garibaldi brought the appeal which, with a few modifications, we sent
to the powers. Since that time I have often had that appeal printed.
Whenever opportunity has offered I have striven to call the attention
of those in power and the great public to Garibaldi’s lofty ideas. And
now, when the peace workers and the representatives of the nations are
about to assemble on the occasion of the Millennial Festival, I am
going once more to bring forth the never-to-be-forgotten leader’s
inspired words of exhortation. It will not fail to be interesting—amid
the conservative tendencies—to hear ideas of the so-called
“revolutionists and subverters,” dictated as they were by the purest
philanthropy; for those men sought to overthrow nothing except the
dikes that block freedom and progress.
General Türr pulled out of his pocket a copy of Garibaldi’s appeal and
handed it to me. It is an interesting document, and it makes one realize
how thoughts which are regarded as new have been conceived many years
back, and how they are swallowed up in forgetfulness, no matter how
eloquently they may have been spoken. Ever again and ever again they
have to emerge, like something new, surprising people, until at last
they become common property.
In this appeal Garibaldi points to the enormous armaments of the sixties
(what would he say to-day!); he laments that in the midst of so-called
civilization we fill our lives with mutual threats against one another.
He proposes an alliance of all the states of Europe; then there would be
no more fighting forces on land and sea (that we should be now building
air-fleets he did not foresee), and the enormous funds that have to be
withdrawn from the necessities of the nations for unproductive,
death-dealing purposes might be made available for ends that would
improve property and lift the level of human life; these latter are then
enumerated.
The document also gives satisfactory answers to possible objections.
“What will become of the multitude of men who are serving in the army
and in the navy?”
Rulers would have to study institutions of common utility if their
minds were no longer absorbed in ideas of conquest and devastation....
In consequence of the advance in industry and the greater stability of
commerce, the merchant service would soon take care of the whole
personnel of the navy; the immense and innumerable works and
undertakings which would spring up because of peace, the alliance, and
security, would employ twice as many men as are serving in the army.
The appeal concludes with warm words addressed to those princes to whom
“the sacred duty is intrusted of doing good and cherishing that
greatness which is higher than ephemeral false greatness,—that true
greatness the foundation of which would be the love and the gratitude of
the nations.”
General Türr returned that same evening to Vienna and went the next day
to Budapest, where he finished the laborious preparations for the
Congress.
Two days before the Congress opened we three followed him there. I say
“we three,” for we took our niece Maria Louise with us; we wanted her to
enjoy this journey and the social festivities with us.
I see us on board a Danube steamer. It was a beautiful, sunny September
day. There was quite a little peace band of us,—Malaria, Dr. Kunwald,
the Grollers, husband and wife, and Countess Pötting, “die Hex”; of
friends from abroad,—Frédéric Passy, Gaston Moch and his wife, Yves
Guyot the former Minister, publisher of _Le Siècle_ and a great free
trader before the Lord, the Grelix couple, and M. Claparède from
Switzerland.