DC 323 .ri53 Copy 1 The Rescue of France. A DISCOURSE SPOKEN BEFORE A MEETING OP FRENCH GENTLEMEN, IN PHILADELPniA, AT THE ASSEMBLY BUILDINGS Mnrc7i 7/?t, JS72, ^y KEV. C MIEL. TRANSLATED BY EDWARD ROTH. PHILADELPHIA: KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 607 AND 609 SANSOM STREET. 1872. The Rescue of France. A DISCOURSE SPOKEN BEFORE A MEETING OP FRENCH GENTtiEMEN, IN PniLADELPHIA, AT THE ASSEMBLY BUILDINGS, March 7th, /872, By BEV. O. MIEL. TRANSLATED BY EDWARD ROTH. PHILADELPHIA: KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 607 AND 009 SANSOM STREET. 1872. Whilst reading in the original the following eloquent and ioucliing discourse (not with dry eyes it must be confessed), the idea .occurred to the translator, of performing his little part in a great act of charity by laying before the American people — the generous nation par excellence — an affecting appeal which, though exclusively intended for natives of France, cannot but arouse the sympathy of every humane breast. Words cannot describe the present sufferings of France, the kindly, the genial, the high spirited, "whom we all love so well," once our faithful and fast friend (in the gloomy days when fast and faithful friends were few indeed), once so glorious and happy, but now writhing under the heel of a foreign master and suffering such afflictions in consequence that even a stranger to her soil and blood cannot help con- tributing his small mite towards bringing them to the earliest possible termination. Our German brethren must not misunderstand us ; had they been overwhelmed by similar misfortunes, they too should be entitled to our active sympathy, and would receive it ! Messrs. King «& Baird, with their well known liberality, have generously offered to bear half the expense of this edition. EDWARD ROTH. Bboad Street Academy, Phila., April 3, 1873. ^^ ADDRESS. Gentlemen : — .^ bunclred and fifty years ago, France, invaded by tlie English, a prey to internal dis- sensions, was threatened with slavery and ruin ; the world believed that our lovely country was about to disappear forever, and with it, civilization. King, Church, Nobility, the only powers then existing, were plunged in despair. But in the midst of this universal despondence, it came to pass that one young girl had the faith ! A peasant of the Meuse valley, meeting her one evening on the road near her village, told her what misfortunes had befallen her coantr3\ " Well !" she cried, her countenance blazing with inspiration, " there is a poor shepherdess now living who shall deliver this kingdom before a year is over !" And, in fact, shortly after, Joan of Arc starts on her mission of deliverance. Through what trials, through wliat dangers, she had to pass, before accomplishing her task, God alone knows. But the day at last comes when we behold her advancing, like some celestial visitant, mounted on a black charger, glittering in snow white armor, in one hand her sword, in the other the oriflamme ! The people fall on their knees as she moves before them ! All at ouee, quick as lightning, she rushes to the charge, terrible, but at the same time merciful. With one gesture she levels fortresses, with another she sweeps away armies. The English, astounded, over- whelmed, retire in discomfiture. France is saved, and it is the faith of a peasant girl of Lorraine that has wrought the miracle ! I need not, gentlemen, point you out the melan- choly analogy existing between the present state of our beloved France and that to which I have just alluded. I need not remind you of her purest blood shed in torrents, her treasures robbed, her fairest provinces ravaged, a portion of her territory still trampled on by the enemy's heel, and, to crown her woes, a number of her children abandoning them- selves to a blind and accursed party spirit, and fighting desperately over the little spoil still left to their un- happy mother. " Oh God I save us or we perish !" is the instinctive cry now resounding through the length and the breadth of the land, the only cry uttered by all who have the welfare of their country really at heart. And this last cry has been heard ! God will save France ! Not by the ordinary means — in a situation so deplorable, ordinary means are of little avail. God will save us ! Not by the wisdom of our rulers, not by the valor of our soldiers, not by the perfection of our instruments of warfare, but, as in the fifteenth century, by miracles of faith, pa- triotism, and love ! For, in truth, what voice is this we hear sounding in the east, sweet enough to be called celestial, loud enough to move the world ? It is the voice of the humble maidens of Alsace and Lorraine, the voice of the worthy sisters of Joan of Arc. What sublim- ity is in their simple language ! " Mr. President^ our offering is indeed small, hut all of us, even the poorest, have contributed our share. Please to accept it and employ it for the ransom of France, our beloved mother, from whose dear bosom violence has indeed been able to tear us, but to lohom we have devoted forever oar aspirations and our hearts.'^ At the sound of this voice what an indescribable emotion takes possession of our souls 1 The image of our country, a moment ago veiled in sorrow and mourning, is transformed before our eyes : the em- blems of grief and sufiering fall from around her, and she rises before her children more beautiful, noble and enchanting, than even in dreams 1 At such a sight, these children are at once inspired with a new love, and are ready to testify it by sacrifices of all kinds, by sacrifices the most heroic ! Never has the world witnessed a more sublime spectacle 1 l!Tever before has it seen patriotism purer, more self- denying, or more courageous 1 My language, gentlemen, is strong, I am well aware, and, even now when facts bear me out, doubt, I know, is only natural. Accordingly, at the first proposal of the project, it is not wonderful, that the idea of France, so impoverished, so degenerate — as some friends kindly intimated — being still capable of anything so manly, so great, requiring such marvel- lous devotion — it is not wonderful, I say, that this idea provoked at first a smile of pity among foreign- ers, and even found many skeptics among our own countrymen. You can read in the Nineteenth Cen- tury something like the following, written by M. Sarcey, the editor : — " The very day I wrote my first article in favor of the work, an assistant called and said : ' I bet five francs this subscription never reaches a million ?' I put down my five francs. Two days after he comes and says : ' I want to win back my money ; I now bet five francs your subscription never reaches twenty millions.' ' Done !' cried I ; ' the city of Lille alone has pledged itself for that sum. To give you a further chance of winning back your money, I now bet that the subscription will rise to a hundred millions, and if you come here in a few days I will bet it rises to five hundred millions, and I am bound to win my wager too.' " Yes, gen- tlemen, most assuredly he shall win his wager. For, the grand idea of making sacrifices without stint or limit for our country's ransom, has taken root everywhere, and is manifesting itself in forms^: the most diverse and the most surprising. The enthusiasm is universal and irresistible. From all directions are subscriptions coming ; in all directions are committees organizing. Churches and theatres, colleges and workshops, the administration and the army, all take their part in it. The soldier gives every month one day's pay : the artisan one day's labor. Some officials offer the tenth part of their salary ; some deputies the whole of it. Here, the widow of a member of the Institute writes : " I ask no pension until the day when our dear country shall be completely free — what more can I do?" There, a veteran laborer writes in his turn : " I am only an old workman, living with my poor wife on crusts slowly and painfully collected. ISo matter, I'm good for three hundred francs." And the noble fellow adds : " Keep ray name private ; I give it to you only because I consider my engagement a debt of honor." Yes, brother, we shall respect thy gen- erous delicacy; we shall not seek to know thy glorious name ; let it be enough for ns to know that it is written in the great book of Him who recom- penses a hundred fold even a cup of cold water given in charity ! What other examples shall I mention ? Standing beside the merchant, who cries in his excitement: " I will give a hundred thousand francs, two hun- dred thousand francs, all I can !" — is a peasant from the neighborhood of Paris, ruined by the war, but oifering the last and only thing left to him, his poor cow, and begging them with tears not to refuse his sacrifice. Here again, is a young girl bringing everything she possesses of any value, bits of earrings and poor old jewelry, and, ashamed of her poverty, timidly adding: "I will give an hour's work every week besides." Perhaps it was under the inspiration of such a touching example, that a noble lady proposed to the women of France to surrender all their diamonds and pearls at once to their country, so that at the sight of a lady wearing no jewelry, every one could say: "she must 8 be French — she must belong to the Legion of Honor of French women!" I cannot resist the pleasure of here quoting the admirable words employed by a Sister of Charity in Paris, when asking to have the nuns all through France included in the noble work of the tax of honor. "Usually," she writes, "the Sister of Charity's privilege is to ask; now she solicits the honor of being allowed to give. Lot the lad}'- directors of the committees come then and receive her mite ; and write her name on their list between the grand dame of fashion and the poor servant girl ; between the Protestant minister's wife and the Jewish maiden ; let all social classes, let all religious beliefs, unite for once in friendly embrace to the cry of Vive la Fi-ance r Such, gentlemen, is this sublime emulation of patriotism, this noble ambition ^to disenthrall our country at the earliest possible moment, and to save her at any cost. It has gained all hearts; it has penetrated all conditions ; it has wiped out all divi- sions ; it has conquered all narrow considerations of self; and that not only within the boundaries of France, but all over the world, wherever beneath the breast of man, and still better, beneath the breast of woman, a true French heart is beating! In Italy and in Belgium, in Switzerland ever faithful, in Ireland ever devoted, in Loudon and in New York, from St. Petersburgh to San Francisco, from Montreal to New Orleans, everywhere., the celes- tial voice of our sisters of Alsace and Lorraine, has 9 found a sympathetic and responsive echo ! And thus — miracle of Divine Wisdom ! — it is by the two daughters that she has lost that France, our mother, shall be saved ! That she has lost ! But is it true that we liave lost our two fixir provinces of the east? l^o doubt, our enemies arc ruling there to-day, but they do not reign there ! No doubt, they hold the soil with the gripe of a master ; but there is a fortress there which shall brave forever all the efforts of their army and their artillery, however formidable. It is the heart ! Yes ! the heart, the great and noble heart of these conquered provinces, still clings to France their mother, clings to her with a desperate rapture of fidelity that provokes the astonished admiration of the world. Therefore, be convinced of this truth : whoever has the heart is the master ; to whoever possesses the heart, the possession of the rest is only a question of time. France shall be saved, I have already said, but is that enough to say ? When in the eleventh centurj', after the long lethargy of the middle ages, the French, our ancestors, all, gentle and simple, great lords, barons, vassals and peasants, sprang to arms at the crj' of " God wills it !" when, abandoning fortune, family, and country, they pressed forward on the steps of the Frenchman, Peter the Hermit, towards the distant Orient, what task did they pro- pose themselves to accomplish? Simply to rescue our Lord's sepulchre ; and they did it. But without being aware of it, they did much more; they 10 founded the French nationality ; tliey inaugurated a new society ; they opened the era of modern civilization, the ever-enlarging career of freedom and progress. Their intention had been only to rescue the tomb of Christ ; as a reward for their faith and sacrifices, they brought back' from the east to the west, the spirit of Christ himself, his spirit of light, life and wisdom ! In like manner, gentlemen, the sublime enthusiasm now swaying France in this new solemn moment of her history, shall not have the rescue of the national soil for its only result. It has another and a greater object ! The restoration, the redemption of France herself! — of France, lately so despised, reviled, down- trodden, but now showing herself to the world reju- venated through suffering, radiant with ixew dignity, and ready once more to start anew, full of hope and love, on a brighter and more glorious career. Already she is attracting the sympathies of the world ; already her habitual detractors are passing visibly from sur- prise to admiration, and, ashamed of having made such a strange mistake, are trying to stammer forth a timid apology. Pardon them, my France — let me say it without blasphemy — they knew not what they were doing. Accept even, if so it must be, the part of the Magdalen of JSTations, which they have allotted to thee — even that is not without its glory — and full of confidence in the words of Him who has said : " Many sins are forgiven to her, because she has loved much," receive once more courage into thy heart purified by charity ; lift up once more thy poor 11 head without shame, for it is glittering with the aureola of a martyr. Yes, my country, my well beloved — in the glowing language of one of thy sons — " In vain with agonizpcl heart hast thou gazed on thy cities in ruins ; In vain in countless heaps have thy noblest been slaughtered around thee ; In vain hast thou fought, void of hope, to the last 'gainst a foe overwhelming ; Still, never despair, O France I again thou shall rise up uncon- quered. " Stronger than ever thou'lt rise, the throes of thy martyrdom ended ; Free from the harpies despoiling, free from the rulers corrupting ; Poor, but honest and proud ! O France, my country, what mat- ters One year more or less ? Thy empire shall flourish forever. "Let them pile then thy hard earned gold in heaps on their wagons enormous ; On the food of thy starving poor, let them gorge their fat bodies to bursting ; Thy time is coming, France, and the era is not very distant When tlce land shall belong to the kindly, not to the barbarous mas- ter/'' "Whether that shall be so, gentlemen, depends to- day on the eftbrts of us all collectively, and of each of us individually. Our sisters in Philadelphia, imi- tating our sisters in Lorraine and Alsace, and our sisters throughout the length and breadth of France, invoke our co-operation in a work which cannot be less dear to us than it is even to them. This co-op- 12 eration we shall give without hesitation, without calculation, with real joy, with all the zeal of the most ardent patriotism. jSTever have we been, and • let us hope that we never again shall be, called upon to repair, according to our means, more frightful disasters, to devote our energies to a greater and holier cause, or one more powerfully affecting our honor and our destiny. Let this double consideration determine the grandeur of the sacrifice we are going to offer, the generosity of the donation we are going to lay on the altar of our country. At such a moment, the least concession made to the vile voice of selfishness should press on our consciences forever with the leaden wei'^ht of remorse, should brand our foreheads forever with the burning stigma of infamy. To give simply from our over-abundance, or even to give all our over-abundance, should not suffice ; our duty and our dignit}^ as Frenchmen require, in such an extreme crisis as the present, that, whether our fortune is great or little, we should sensibly diminish it — diminish it so that we may always think with pride on the effects of our sacrifice, as we always point with pride to the noble scar gained in battling for the defence and the honor of our country. In a word, let the act of generosity that we are about to perform, be of such a nature as to mark an era in our existence, so that its very memory, like some divine odor, shall be sufficient to bless, embalm and console the rest of our days in this world. I have spoken. ISfow then, to work 1 ► LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I 019 648 995 2 ( 'Ihe 'price of this Pamphlet is Twenty-five Cents ^ payable to Edward Eoth, No. SS7 South Broad Street, in behalf of the Broad Street Academy Fund, for the Liberation of France from Foreign occupaMon, to be collected by the pupils and other members of the School, and transmitted directly to M. Thiers, President of the French Bepid)lic.