"You seem so happy," said Annette; and I could only tell her this: "The dreams of former days, and the loftiest impressions that our souls have taken up from art, are now our actual life; our highest ideal has been attained."
Joseph informed me that the army corps consisting of the troops from our State, would make its entry into our capital under the Crown Prince, who had commanded it during the war, and that the Colonel, who was now a General, would take part in the ceremony. Bertha expected that we would all be with her on that day of honor.
Richard told us of his experiences while with the French, and we could not help asking ourselves: "Shall we ever be at peace with these neighbors of ours?"
"I have learned to know the French," said Richard, "and suffered much at their hands. The people amused themselves by insulting me while I was being led through the streets; I had to march in chains for a whole day; and still, through all the ravings of this sanguine people, I could see its mighty soul."
At these words, Offenheimer rushed up to Richard, and, embracing him, said, "A wounded enemy is an enemy no longer, and thus we have ceased to be enemies of suffering France."
He begged Richard to tell him more, and so he continued: "In spite of their impassioned feelings, and of the fact, utterly incomprehensible to them, that we were impolite enough not to let them whip us, there is a real elevation of soul in them, although it is obscured by their theatrical phrases. But their belief in themselves is something grand. They cling to it, even now, when they are sorely beaten. I am confident that the French will, in time, become honestly tolerant, and not in the sham sense that makes its professors say: 'You, poor fellow, have a false belief, but I do not attack it.' The French have a beautiful faith in themselves, but they must acquire faith in others, and not consider themselves the whole of humanity."
Nations have much the same ideas as individuals. After a silent combat, they can scarcely believe that it arose from a trifling cause, and now the French will not remember what a trivial pretext they had for this war.
The Chinese self-sufficiency of the French, who believed themselves to be the sole representatives of civilization, is now broken down. Their morbid desire for revenge can only be temporary. The people, deeply wounded in its vanity, and swindled out of its love of truth by sycophantic word-mongers, will come to reason.
Wilhelmi based great hopes on the projected university of Strasburg. It was to form an intellectual bond of union. With great warmth of feeling, he demonstrated that it was typical of the real character of our people, that, first of all, an institution of learning was established in the newly recovered province.
Then Ludwig rose, and with an enthusiasm in which all the fervor of his youth broke forth, again said: "And something more is in store for us, and, for that reason, I wish to remain an American citizen. You, Wilhelmi, and I have learned to know America. We love our old home, but we also love the New World, which is the land to initiate great thoughts, the land in which humanity, through untrammelled liberty, cannot but reach great results. It is pitiful and, at the same time, sad, that the American who has made money, and wishes to do something for the public good, knows of nothing better than to build a church.