CHAPTER VIII
A few days after the passage of the last squadrons of hussars, welearned that the Phalsbourgers had made a sortie to carry off cattlefrom the Biechelberg. That night we might have captured the whole ofthe garrison of our village; but the officer in command of the partywas a poor creature. Instead of approaching in silence, he had orderedguns to be fired at two hundred paces from the enemy's advanced posts,to frighten the Prussians! But they, in great alarm, had sprung out oftheir beds, where they lay fast asleep, and had all decamped, firingback at our men; and the peasants lost no time in driving their cattleinto the woods.
From this you may see what notions our officers had about war.
"The men of 1814," said our old forester, Martin Kopp, "set to work ina different way; they were sure to fetch back bullocks, cows, andprisoners into the town."
When Cousin George was spoken to of these matters, he shrugged hisshoulders and made no remark.
Worse than all, the Prussians made fun of us unlucky villagers ofRothalp, calling us "_la grande nation!_" But was it our fault if ourofficers, who had almost all been brought up by the Jesuits, knewnothing of their profession? If our lads had been drilled, if everyman had been compelled to serve, as they are in Germany; and if everyman had been given the post for which he was best fitted, according tohis acquirements and his spirit, I don't think the Prussians would havegot so much fun out of "_la grande nation_."
This was the only sortie attempted during the siege. The commander,Talliant, who had plenty of sense, was quite aware that with officersof this stamp, and soldiers who knew nothing of drill, it was better tokeep behind the ramparts and try to live without meat.
About the same time the officer in command of the post of the Landwehrat Wechem, the greatest drunkard and the worst bully we have ever seenin our part of the country, came to pay me his first visit, along withfifteen men with fixed bayonets.
His object was to requisition in our village three hundred loaves ofbread, some hay, straw, and oats in proportion.
In the first place he walked into my mill, crying, "Hallo!good-morning, M. le Maire!"
Seeing those bayonets at my door, a fidgety feeling came over me.
"I am come to bring you a proclamation from his Majesty the King ofPrussia. Read that!"
And I read the following proclamation:
"We, William, King of Prussia, make known to the inhabitants of theFrench territory that the Emperor Napoleon III., having attacked theGerman nation by sea and by land, whose desire was and is to live atpeace with France, has compelled us to assume the command of ourarmies, and, consequently upon the events of war, to cross the Frenchfrontier; but that I make war upon soldiers and not upon Frenchcitizens, who shall continue to enjoy perfect security, both as regardstheir persons and their property, as long as they shall not themselvescompel me, by hostile measures against the German troops, to withdrawmy protection from them."
"You will post up this proclamation," said the lieutenant to me, "uponyour door, upon that of the mayoralty-office, and upon the church-door.Well! are you glad?"
"Of course," said I.
"Then," he replied, "we are good friends; and good friends must helpone another. Come, my boys," he cried to his soldiers, with a loudlaugh, "come on--let us all go in. Here you may fancy yourselves athome. You will be refused nothing. Come in!"
And these robbers first entered the mill; then they passed on into thekitchen; from the kitchen into the house, and then they went down intothe cellar.
My wife and Gredel had sought safety in flight.
Then commenced a regular organized pillage.
They cleared out my chimney of its last hams and flitches of bacon,they broke in my last barrel of wine; they opened my wardrobe--scentingdown to the very bottom like a pack of hounds. I saw one of thesesoldiers lay hands even upon the candle out of the candlestick andstuff it into his boot.
One of my lambs having begun to bleat:
"Hallo!" cried the lieutenant. "Sheep! we want mutton."
And the infamous rascals went off to the stable to seize upon my sheep.
When there was nothing left to rob, this gallant officer handed me thelist of regular requisitions, saying, "We require these articles. Youwill bring the whole of them this very evening to Wechem, or we shallbe obliged to repeat our visit: you comprehend, Monsieur le Maire?And, especially, do not forget the proclamations, his Majesty'sproclamations; that is of the first importance: it was our principalobject in coming. Now, Monsieur le Maire, _au revoir, au revoir_!"
The abominable brute held out his hand to me in its coarse leatherglove--I turned my back upon him; he pretended not to see it, andmarched off in the midst of his soldiers, all loaded like pack-horses,laughing, munching, tippling; for every man had filled his tin flaskand stuffed his canvas bag full.
Farther on they visited several of the other principal houses--mycousin's, the cure Daniel's. They were so loaded with plunder that,after their last visit, they halted to lay under requisition a horseand cart, which seemed to them handier than carrying all that they hadstolen.
War is a famous school for thieves and brigands; by the end of twentyyears mankind would be a vast pack of villains.
Perhaps this may yet be our fate; for I remember that the oldschool-master at Bouxviller told us that there had been once in ancienttimes populous nations, richer than we are, who might have prosperedfor thousands of years by means of commerce and industry, but who hadbeen so madly bent upon their own extermination by means of war, thattheir country became at last sandy wastes, where not a blade of grassgrows now and nothing is found but scattered rocks.
This is our impending fate; and I fear I may see it before I die, ifsuch men as Bismarck, Bonaparte, William, De Moltke, and all thosecreatures of blood and rapine do not swiftly meet with their deservedretribution.
The pillaging lieutenant that I told you of just now was made a captainat the end of the war--the reward of his merit. I cannot just nowrecollect his name; but when I mention that he used to roam fromvillage to village, from one public-house to another, soaking in, likea sand-bank, wine, beer, and ardent spirits; that he bellowed out songslike a bull-calf; that he used in a maudlin way to prate about littlebirds; that he levied requisitions at random; and that he used toreturn to his quarters about one, or two, or three o'clock in themorning, so intoxicated that it was incredible that a human being insuch a state could keep his seat on horseback, and yet was ready tobegin again next morning; yes, I need but mention these circumstances,and everybody will recognize in a minute the big German brute!
The other Landwehr officers, in command at Wilsberg, Quatre Vents,Mittelbronn, and elsewhere, were scarcely better. After the departureof the princes, the dukes, and the barons, these men looked uponthemselves as the lords of the land. Every day we used to hear offresh crimes committed by them upon poor defenceless creatures. Oneday, at Mittelbronn, they shot a poor idiot who had been runningbarefoot in the woods for ten years, hurting nobody; the next day, atWilsberg, they stripped naked a poor boy who unfortunately had come toonear their batteries, and the officer himself, with his heavy bootskicked him till the blood ran; and then, at the Quatre Vents, theypulled out of the cellar two feeble old men, and exposed them two daysand nights to the rain and the cold, threatening to kill them if theydid but stir; they pillaged oxen, sheep, hay, straw, smashed furniture,burst in windows, day after day, for the mere pleasure of killing anddestroying.
THEY DREW TWO POOR OLD MEN FROM THEIR CELLAR.]
Sometimes they found amusement in threatening to make the cures and theMaires drive the cattle which they themselves had lifted. And as theGermans enjoy the reputation with us of being very learned, I feelbound to declare that I have never seen one, whether officer orprivate, with a book in his hand.
Cousin George said, with good reason, that all their learning bearsupon their military profession: the spy system, and the study of mapsfor officers, and discipline under corporal punishment for th
e rest.The only clear notion they have in their heads is that they must obeytheir chiefs and calmly receive slaps in the face.
The young men employed in trade are great travellers. They getinformation in other countries; they are sly; they never answerquestions; they are good servants, and cheap; but at the first signal,back they go to get kicked; and they think nothing of shooting theirold shopmates, and those whose bread they have been eating for years.
In their country some are born to slap, others to be slapped. Theyregard this as a law of nature; a man is honorable or not according ashe may be the son of a nobleman or a tradesman, a baron or a workman.With them, the less honorable the man the better the soldier; he isonly expected to obey, to black boots, and to rub down the officer'shorse when he is ordered: a banker's, or a rich citizen's son obeysjust like any one else! Hence there is no doubt that their armies arewell disciplined. George said that their superior officers handled ahundred thousand men with greater ease than ours could manage tenthousand, and that, for that purpose, less talent was needed. Nodoubt! If I, who am only a miller, had by chance been born King ofPrussia, I should lead them all by the bridle, like my horses, andbetter. I should simply be careful, on the eve of any difficultenterprise, to consult two or three clever fellows who should clear upmy ideas for me, and engage in my service highly educated young men tolook after affairs. Then the machine would act of itself, just like mymill, where the cogs work into each other without troubling me. Themachinery does everything; genius, good sense, and good feeling are notwanted.
These ideas have come into my mind, thinking upon what I have observedsince the opening of this campaign; and this is why I say we must havediscipline to play this game over again; only, as the French possessthe sentiment of honor, they must be made to understand that he who hasno discipline is wanting in honor, and betrays his country. Then,without kicking and slapping, we shall obtain discipline; we may handlevast masses, and shall beat the Germans, as we have done hundreds oftimes before.
These things should be taught in every school, and the schools shouldbe numberless; at the very head of the catechism should be written:"The first virtue of the citizen under arms is obedience; the man whodisobeys is a coward, a traitor to the Republic."
These were my thoughts; and now I continue my story.
After the passage of the German armies, our unhappy country was, as itwere, walled round with a rampart of silence; for all the men who wereblockading Phalsbourg, and the few detachments which were still passingwith provisions, stores, flocks of sheep, and herds of oxen through thevalley, were under orders not to speak to us, but leave us to theinfluence of fear. We received no more newspapers, no more letters,nor the least fragment of intelligence from the interior. We couldhear the bombardment of Strasbourg when the wind blew from the Rhine.All was in flames down there; but, as no one dared to come and go, onaccount of the enemy's posts placed at every point, nothing was known.Melancholy and grief were killing us. No one worked. What was the useof working, when the bravest, the most industrious, the most thriftysaw the fruit of their labor devoured by innumerable brigands? Menalmost regretted having done their duty by their children, in deprivingthemselves of necessaries, to feed in the end such base wretches asthese. They would say: "Is there any justice left in the world? Arenot upright men, tender mothers of families, and dutiful children,fools? Would it not be better to become thieves and rogues at once?Do not all the rewards fall to the brutish? Are not those hypocriteswho preach religion and mercy? Our only duty is to become thestrongest. Well, let us be the strongest; let us pass over the bodiesof our fellow-creatures, who have done us no harm; let us spy, cheat,and pillage: if we are the strongest, we shall be in the right."
Here is the list of the requisitions, made in the poorest cabins, forevery Prussian who lodged there: judge what must have been our misery.
"For every man lodging with you, you will have to furnish daily 750grammes of bread, 500 grammes of meat, 250 grammes of coffee, 60grammes of tobacco, or five cigars, a half litre of wine, or a litre ofbeer, or a tenth part of a litre of eau-de-vie. Besides, for everyhorse, twelve kilos of oats, five kilos of hay, and two and a halfkilos of straw."*
* Bread, about 2 lbs.; meat, 1-1/2 lbs.; coffee, 8 oz.; tobacco, 2 oz.;wine, 3/4 pint; or beer, 1-1/2 pints; oats, 26 lbs., etc.
Every one will say, "How was it possible for unfortunate peasants tosupply all that? It is impossible."
Well, no. The Prussians did get it, in this wise: They made excursionsto the very farthest farms, they carried off everything, hay, straw;elsewhere they carried off the cattle; elsewhere, corn; elsewhere,again, wine, eau-de-vie, beer; elsewhere they demanded contributions inmoney. Every man gave up what he had to give, so that by the end ofthe campaign there was nothing left.
Yes, indeed! We were comfortable before this war; we were rich withoutknowing it. Never had I supposed that we had in our country suchquantities of hay, so many head of cattle.
It is true that, at the last, they gave us bonds; but not untilthree-quarters and more of our provisions had been consumed. And nowthey make a pretence of indemnifying us; but in thirty years, supposingthere is peace--in thirty years our village will not possess what ithad last year.
Ah! vote, vote in plebiscites, you poor, miserable peasants! Vote forbonds for hay, straw, and meat, milliards and provinces for thePrussians! Our _honest man_ promises peace; he who has broken hisoath--trust in his word!
Whenever I think on these things, my hair stands on end. And those whovoted against the Plebiscite, they have had to pay just as dearly. Howbitterly they must feel our folly; and how anxious they must be toeducate us!
Imagine the condition of my wife and of my daughter seeing us sodenuded! for women cleave to their savings much more closely than men;and then mother was only thinking of Jacob, and Gredel of her JeanBaptiste.
Cousin George knew this. He tried several times to get news of thetown. A few Turcos, who had escaped from the carnage of Froeschwiller,had remained in town, and every day a few got through the postern tohave a shot at the Germans. On the other hand, as the attack on theplace had been sudden and unforeseen, there had been no time to throwdown the trees, the hedges, the cottages, and the tombstones in thecemetery. So this work began afresh: everything within cannon-shot wasrazed without mercy.
George tried to reach these men, but the enemy's posts were still tooclose. At last he got news, but in a way which can scarcely betold--by an abandoned woman, who was allowed in the German lines. Thiscreditable person told us that Jacob was well; and, no doubt, she alsobrought some kind of good news to Gredel, who from that moment wasanother woman. The very next day she began to talk to us about hermarriage-portion, and insisted upon knowing where we had hidden it. Itold her that it was in the wood, at the foot of a tree. Then she wasin alarm lest the Prussians should have discovered it, for theysearched everywhere; they had exact inventories of what was owned byevery householder. They had gone even to the very end of our cellarsto discover choice wines: for instance, at Mathis's, at the saw-mills,and at Frantz Sepel's, at Metting. Nothing could escape them, havinghad for years our own German servants to give them every information,who privately kept an account of our cattle, hay, corn, wine, andeverything every house could supply. These Germans are the mostperfect spies in the world; they come into the world to spy, as birdsdo to thieve: it is part of their nature. Let the Americans and allthe people who are kind enough to receive them think of this. Theirimprudence may some day cost them dearly. I am not inventing. I amnot saying a word too much. We are an example. Let the world profitby it.
So Gredel feared for our hoard. I told her I had been to see, and thatnothing in the neighborhood had been disturbed.
But, after having quieted her, I myself had a great fright.
One Sunday evening, about thirty Prussians, commanded by their famouslieutenant, came to the mill, striking the floor with the butt-ends oftheir muskets, and shouting that they must have win
e and eau-de-vie.
I gave them the keys of the cellar.
"That is not what I want," said the lieutenant. "You took sixteenhundred livres at Saverne last month; where are they?"
Then I saw that I had been denounced. It was Placiard, or some of thatrabble; for denunciations were beginning. _All who have since declaredfor the Germans were already beginning this business_. I could notdeny it, and I said: "It is true. As I was owing money at Phalsbourg,I paid what I owed, and I placed the rest in safety under the care oflawyer Fingado."
"Where is that lawyer?"
"In the town guarded by the sixty big guns that you know of."
Then the lieutenant paced up and down, growling, "You are an old fox.I don't believe you. You have hid your money somewhere. You shallsend in your contribution in money."
"I will furnish, like others, my contribution for six men with what Ihave got. Here are my hay, my wheat, my straw, my flour. Whatever isleft you may have; when there is nothing left, you may seek elsewhere.You may kill the people; you may burn towns and villages; but youcannot take money from those who have none."
He stared at me, and one of the soldiers, mad with rage, seized me bythe collar, roaring, "Show us your hoard, old rascal!"
Several others were pushing me out of doors; my wife came crying andsobbing; but Gredel darted in, armed with a hatchet, crying to theserobbers, "Pack of cowards! You have no courage--you are all likeSchinderhannes!"
She was going to fall upon them; but I bade her: "Gredel, go in again."
At the same time I threw open my waistcoat, and told the brute who waspointing his bayonet at my breast: "Now thrust, wretch; let it be over!"
It seems that there was something at that moment in my attitude whichawed them; for the lieutenant, who did nothing but scour the countrywith his band, exclaimed: "Come, let us leave monsieur le maire alone.When we have taken the place, we shall find his money at the lawyer's.Come, my lads, come on; let us go and look elsewhere. His Majestywants crown-pieces: we will find them. Good-by, Monsieur le Maire.Let us bear no malice."
He was laughing; but I was as pale as death, and went in trembling.
I fell ill.
Many people in the country were suffering from dysentery, which we oweagain to these gormandizers, for they devoured everything; honey,butter, cheese, green fruit, beef, mutton, everything was ingulfedanyhow down their huge swallows. At Pfalsweyer they had even swallowedvinegar for wine. I cannot tell what they ate at home, but thevoracity of these people would make you suppose that at home they knewno food but potatoes and cold water.
In their sanitary regulations there was plenty of room for improvement;health and decency were alike disregarded.
That year the crows came early; they swept down to earth in greatclouds. But for this help, a plague would have fallen upon us.
I cannot relate all the other torments these Prussians inflicted uponus; such as compelling us to cut down wood for them in the forest, tosplit it, to pile it up in front of their advanced posts; threateningthe peasants with having to go to the front and dig in the trenches.On account of this, whole villages fled without a minute's warning, andthe Landwehr took the opportunity to pillage the houses withoutresistance. Worse than all, they polluted and desecrated thechurches--to the great distress of all right-minded people, whetherCatholics, Protestants, or Jews. This proved that these fellowsrespected nothing; that they took a pleasure in humiliating the soulsof men in their tenderest and holiest feelings; for even with ungodlymen a church, a temple, a synagogue are venerable places. There ourmothers carried us to receive the blessing of God; there we called Godto witness our love for her with whom we had chosen to travel togetherthe journey of life; thither we bore father and mother to commend theirsouls to the mercy of God after they had ceased to suffer in this world.
These wretched men dared do this; therefore shall they be execratedfrom generation to generation, and our hatred shall be inextinguishable!
Whilst all these miseries were overwhelming us, rumors of all sorts ranthrough the country. One day Cousin George came to tell us that he hadheard from an innkeeper from Sarrebourg that a great battle had beenfought near Metz; that we might have been victorious, but that theEmperor, not knowing where to find his proper place, got in everybody'sway; that he would first fly to the right, then to the left, carryingwith him his escort of three or four thousand men, to guard his personand his ammunition-wagons; that it had been found absolutely necessaryto declare his command vacant, and to send him to Verdun to get rid ofhim; for he durst not return to Paris, where indignation against hisdynasty broke out louder and louder.
"Now," said my cousin, "Bazaine is at the head of our best army. It isa sad thing to be obliged to intrust the destinies of our country tothe hands of the man who made himself too well known in Mexico; whilstthe Minister of War, old De Montauban, has distinguished himself inChina, and in Africa in that Doineau affair. Yes, these are three menworthy to lay their heads close together--the Emperor, Bazaine, andPalikao! Well, let us hope on: hope costs nothing!"
Thus passed away the month of August--the most miserable month ofAugust in all our lives!
On the first of September, about ten o'clock at night, everybody wasasleep in the village, when the cannon of Phalsbourg began to roar: itwas the heavy guns on the bastion of Wilschberg, and those of theinfantry barracks. Our little houses shook.
All rose from their beds and got lights. At every report our windowsrattled. I went out; a crowd of other peasants, men and women, werelistening and gazing. The night was dark, and the red lightningflashes from the two bastions lighted up the hills second after second.
Then curiosity carried me away. I wished to know what it was, and inspite of all my wife could say, I started with three or four neighborsfor Berlingen. As fast as we ascended amongst the bushes, the dinbecame louder; on reaching the brow of this hill, we heard a great stirall round us. The people of Berlingen had fled into the wood: twoshells had fallen in the village. It was from this height that Iobserved the effect of the heavy guns, the bombs and shells rushing inthe direction where we stood, hissing and roaring just like the noiseof a steam-engine, and making such dreadful sounds that one could nothelp shrinking.
At the same time we could hear a distant rolling of carriages at fullgallop; they were driving from Quatre Vents to Wilschberg: no doubt itwas a convoy of provisions and stores, which the Phalsbourgers hadobserved a long way off: the moon was clouded; but young people havesharp eyes. After seeing this, we came down again, and I recognized mycousin, who was walking near me.
"Good-evening, Christian," said he, "what do you think of that?"
"I am thinking that men have invented dreadful engines to destroy eachother."
"Yes, but this is nothing as yet, Christian; it is but the smallbeginning of the story: in a year or two peace will be signed betweenthe King of Prussia and France; but eternal hatred has arisen betweenthe two nations--just, fearful, unforgiving hatred. What did we wantof the Germans? Did we want any of their provinces? No, the majorityof Frenchmen cared for no such thing. Did we covet their glory? No,we had military glory enough, and to spare. So that they had noinducement to treat us as enemies. Well, whilst we were trying, in thepresence of all Europe, the experiment of universal suffrage at our ownrisk and peril--and this step so fair, so equitable, but still sodangerous with an ignorant people, had placed a bad man at thehelm--these _good Christians_ took advantage of our weakness to strikethe blow they had been fifty-four years in preparing. They havesucceeded! But woe to us! woe to them! This war will cost more bloodand tears than the Zinzel could carry to the Rhine!"
Thus spoke Cousin George: and, unhappily, from that day I have hadreason to acknowledge that he was right. Those who were far from theenemy are now close, and those who are farther off will be forced totake a part. Let the men of the south of France remember that they areFrench as well as we, and if they don't want to feel the sharp claw ofthe Prussian upon thei
r shoulders, let them rise in time: next toLorraine comes Champagne; next to Alsace comes Franche Comte andBurgundy; these are fertile lands, and the Germans are fond of goodwine. Clear-sighted men had long forewarned us that the Germans wantedAlsace and Lorraine: we could not believe it; now the same men tell us,"The Germans want the whole of France! This race of slappers andslapped want to govern all Europe! Hearken! The day of the Chambords,upheld by the Jesuits, and of the Bonapartes, supported by spies andfools, has gone by forever! Let us be united under the Republic, orthe Germans will devour us!" I think the men who tender this advicehave a claim to be heard.
The day after the cannonade we learned that some carts had been upsetand pillaged near Berlingen. Then the Prussian major declared that thecommune was responsible for the loss, and that it would have to pay upfive hundred francs damages.
Five hundred francs! Alas! where could they be found after thispillage?
Happily, the Mayor of Berlingen succeeded in making the discovery thatthe sentinels who had the charge of the carts had themselves committedthe robbery, to make presents to the depraved creatures who infestedthe camp, and the general contributions went on as before.
Early in September the weather was fine; and I shall always rememberthat the oats dropped by the German convoys began to grow all along theroad they had taken. No doubt there was a similar green track all theway from Bavaria far into the interior of France.
What a loss for our country! for it always fell to our share to replaceanything that was lost or stolen. Of course the Prussians are toohonorable to pick or steal anywhere!
In that comparatively quiet time by night we could hear the bombardmentof Strasbourg. About one in the morning, while the village was asleep,and all else in the distance was wrapped in silence, then those deepand loud reports were heard one by one. The citadel alone receivedfive shells and one bomb per minute. Sometimes the fire increased inintensity; the din became terrible; the earth seemed to be tremblingfar away down there: it sounded like the heavy strokes of thegravedigger at the bottom of a grave.
And this went on forty-two days and forty-two nights withoutintermission: the new Church, the Library, and hundreds of houses wereburned to the ground; the Cathedral was riddled with shot; a shell evencarried away the iron cross at its summit. The unhappy Strasbourgerscast longing eyes westward; none came to help. The men who have toldme of these things when all was over could not refrain from tears.
Of Metz we heard nothing; rumors of battles, combats in Lorraine, ranthrough the country: rumors of whose authenticity we knew nothing.
The silence of the Germans was maintained; but one evening they burstinto loud hurrahs from Wechem to Biechelberg, from Biechelberg toQuatre Vents. George and his wife came with pale faces.
"Well, you know the despatch?"
"No; what is it?"
"The _honest man_ has just surrendered at Sedan with eighty thousandFrenchmen! From the beginning of the world the like of it has neverbeen seen. He has given up his sword to the King of Prussia--hisfamous sword of the 2d December. He thought more of his own safety andhis ammunition-wagons than of the honor of his name and of the honor ofFrance! Oh, the arch-deceiver! he has deceived me even in this: I didthink he was brave!"
George lost all command over himself.
"There," said he, "that was to be the end of it! His own army wasthose ten or fifteen thousand Decemberlings supplied by the Prefectureof Police, armed with loaded staves and life-preservers to break theheads of the defenders of the laws. He thought himself able to lead aFrench army to victory, as if they were his gang of thieves; he has letthem into a sort of a sink, and there, in spite of the valor of oursoldiers, he has delivered them up to the King of Prussia: in exchangefor what? We shall know by and by. Our unhappy sons refused tosurrender: they would have preferred to die sword in hand, trying tofight their way out; it was his Majesty who, three times, gave ordersto hoist the white flag!"
Thus spoke my cousin, and we, more dead than alive, could hear nothingbut the shouts and rejoicings outside.
A flag of truce had just been despatched to the town. The Landwehr,who for some time had been occupying the place of the troops of theline with us--men of mature age, more devoted to peace than to theglory of King William--thought that all was over; that the King ofPrussia would keep his word; that he would not continue against thenation the war begun against Bonaparte, and that the town would be sureto surrender now.
But the commander, Taillant, merely replied that the gates ofPhalsbourg would be opened whenever he should receive his Majesty'swritten commands; that the fact of Napoleon's having given up his swordwas no reason why he should abandon his post; and that every man oughtto be on his guard, in readiness for whatever might happen.
The flag of truce returned, and the joy of the Landwehr was calmed down.
At this time I saw something which gave me infinite pleasure, and whichI still enjoy thinking of.
I had taken a short turn to Saverne by way of the Falberg, behind theGerman posts, hoping to learn news. Besides, I had some small debts toget in; money was wanted every day, and no one knew where to find it.
About five o'clock in the evening, I was returning home; the weatherwas fine; business had prospered, and I was stepping into the waysideinn at Tzise to take a glass of wine. In the parlor were seated adozen Bavarians, quarrelling with as many Prussians seated round thedeal tables. They had laid their helmets on the window-seats, and wereenjoying themselves away from their officers; no doubt on their returnfrom some marauding expedition.
A Bavarian was exclaiming: "We are always put in the front, we are.The victory of Woerth is ours; but for us you would have been beaten.And it is we who have just taken the Emperor and all his army. Youother fellows, you do nothing but wait in the rear for the honor andglory, and the profit, too!"
"Well, now," answered the Prussian, "what would you have done but forus? Have you got a general to show? Tell me your men. You are in thefront line, true enough. You bear your broken bones with patience--Idon't deny that. But who commands you? The Prince Royal of Prussia,Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, our old General de Moltke, and hisMajesty King William! Don't tell us of your victories. Victoriesbelong to the chiefs. Even if you were every one killed to the lastman, what difference would that make? Does an architect owe his fameto his materials? What have picks, and spades, and trowels to do withvictory?"
"What! the spades!" cried a Bavarian; "do you call us spades?"
"Yes, we do!" shouted the Prussian, arrogantly thumping the table.
Then, bang, bang went the pots and the bottles; and I only just hadtime to escape, laughing, and thinking: "After all, these poorBavarians are right--they get the blows, and the others get the glory.Bismarck must be sly to have got them to accept such an arrangement.It is rather strong. And, then, what is the use of saying that theKing of Bavaria is led by the Jesuits."
About the 8th or 10th of September, the report ran that the Republichad been proclaimed at Paris; that the Empress, the Princess Mathilde,Palikao, and all the rest had fled; that a Government of NationalDefence had been proclaimed; that every Frenchman from twenty to fortyyears of age had been summoned to arms. But we were sure of nothing,except the bombardment of Strasbourg and the battles round Metz.
Justice compels me to say that everybody looked upon the conduct ofBazaine as admirable--that he was looked upon as the saviour of France.It was thought that he was bearing the weight of all the Germans uponhis shoulders, and that, finally, he would break out, and deliver Toul,Phalsbourg, Bitche, Strasbourg, and crush all the investing armies.
Often at that time George said to me: "It will soon be our turn. Weshall all have to march. My plans are already made; my rifle andcartridge-box are ready. You must have the alarm-bell sounded as soonas we hear the cannon about Sarreguemines and Fenetrange. We shalltake the Germans between two fires."
He said this to me in the evening, when we were alone, and I am sure Icould ha
ve wished no better; but prudence was essential: the Landwehrkept increasing in number from day to day. They used to come and sitin our midst around the stove; they smoked their long porcelain pipes,with their heads down, in silence. As a certain number understoodFrench, without telling us so, there was no talking together in theirpresence: every one kept his thoughts to himself.
All these Landwehr from Baden, Wurtemberg, and Bavaria, were commandedby Prussian officers, so that Prussia supplied the officers, and theGerman States the soldiers: by these means they learn obedience totheir true lords and masters. The Prussians were made to command, theothers humbly to obey: thus they gained the victory. And now it mustremain so for ages; for the Alsacians and Lorrainers might revolt,France might rise, and troubles might come in all directions. Yes, allthese good Landwehr will remain under arms from father to son; and themore numerous their victories, the higher the Prussians will climb upontheir backs, and keep them firmly down.
One thing annoyed them considerable; this was a stir in the Vosges, anda talk of francs-tireurs, and of revolted villages about Epinal. Ofcourse this stirred us up too. These Landwehr treated thefrancs-tireurs as brigands in ambush to shoot down respectable fathersof families, to rob convoys, and threatened to hang them.
For all that, many thought--"If only a few came our way with powder andmuskets, we would join them and try to get rid of our troublesourselves."
Hope rose with these francs-tireurs; but the requisitions harassed usall the more.
The pillage was not quite so bad, but it went on still. When ourLandwehr, whom we were obliged to lodge and keep, went off to mountguard at Phalsbourg, others came in troops from the neighboringvillages, shouting, storming, and bawling for oxen, sheep, bacon! Andwhen they had terribly frightened the women, these fellows, after all,were satisfied with a few eggs, a cheese, or a rope of onions; and thenthey would take their departure quite delighted.
Our own Landwehr no doubt did the same, for they never seemed short ofvegetables to cook; and these good fathers of families conscientiouslydivided it with all the abominable creatures who followed them and hadno other way of living. How else could it be? It takes time to turn aman into a beast, but a few months of war soon bring men back into thesavage state.
The Plébiscite; or, A Miller's Story of the War Page 8