No. VII.
(_From the PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC._)
_Bordeaux._
Sire,--You will pardon me, I know, if for a moment I break in upon the
serious occupations and meditations in which your time must be spent. I
like to picture you to myself in the midst of your Staff, working out
for them and your armies great problems of strategy and devising those
movements which, so far, have overwhelmed not your foes so much as the
minds of your fellow-countrymen. You too, Sire, sanguine and impetuous
as is your nature, are no doubt beginning to realise that a great
nation--let us say France, for example--is not to be overcome by mere
shouting and the waving of sabres, or by the making of impassioned
speeches in which God, having been acclaimed as an ally, is encouraged
to perform miracles for the benefit of the Prussian arms. I do not deny
that your soldiers are brave and that your armies are well equipped; but
our Frenchmen too have guns and bayonets and swords and shells and know
how to make use of them, and their portion of courage is no smaller than
that of the Prussians, or even of the Bavarians whom you have lately
been vaunting. Moreover--and this you had perhaps over-looked--they have
something which is deadlier and more enduring than shot and shell and
steel--the unconquerable spirit which leaps up in the hearts of men who
are gathered to defend their country from invasion and their national
existence from destruction.
Oh, Sire, how little you have understood France and her people; how
little you have understood the minds and motives of men! "France," your
Professors and your Generals told you, "is degenerate; her population is
smaller than ours; she has lost her skill in fighting and her courage;
she has no culture, never having heard of TREITSCHKE and having
neglected the inspired writings of NIETZSCHE; she will be an easy prey,
for no one will lift a hand to help her. England is lapped in ease
behind her ocean and will never fight again; Russia is distant and slow,
and we can despise her; Belgium will never dare to deny us anything we
care to ask. Let us make haste, then, and crush France to the earth for
ever." So you planned, and your legions set out to trample us down, with
the result that is now before the eyes of the world.
Only a few words more. There is at Sampigny, in Lorraine, a modest
country-house, which was, in fact, my home. Your troops passed through
the place, and for no military reason that I can discover they reduced
this house to ruins. I know that that is a small price to pay for the
honour of being allowed to represent the French nation in this hour of
peril and glory, and I pay it willingly. When so many are laying down
their lives with joy why should I complain because a few walls have been
shattered? But I am reminded and I wish to remind you of another story.
One hundred and eight years ago, in October, the Great NAPOLEON, having
scattered your predecessor's armies to the four winds of heaven,
proceeded to Potsdam, where he visited the tomb of the great FREDERICK.
They showed him the dead King's sword, his belt and his cordon of the
Black Eagle. These Napoleon took, with the intention of sending them to
Paris, to be presented to the _Invalides_, amongst whom there still
lingered a few who had been defeated by FREDERICK at Rosbach. Certainly
the relics took no shame from such a seizure and such a guardianship.
But the palace at Potsdam was not destroyed and stands to this day. I do
not wish to liken myself to FREDERICK, nor do I compare you with
NAPOLEON, but I tell you the story, which is true, for what it is worth.
I wonder if you will appreciate it?
Agree, Sire, the expression of my distinguished consideration.