Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - I. On the Way to the Front
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
34 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
July, 1870, at 9.30 a.m." by King William to the French
Ambassador Benedetti, which gave the signal for the Franco-
German war. And now, after a lapse of forty-four years, we
were back again at the same point. Now it seemed that the
thought of revenge for Alsace-Lorraine had ripened into action
—unless it be indeed that other evil powers had exploited
France’s longing for revenge, or revived it when, as some say, it
was dead, to benefit themselves thereby and stop the advance
of German prosperity. The near future will be the judge.
After dinner we mounted our car once more and the canary
began to sing so that the good people of Ems might get out of
our way. We proceeded along the right bank of the Lahn,
following its bends in noble curves. The country round here is
exceedingly pretty. It is almost a pity that we have to travel
so fast ; one hardly has time to visualise the beauty of a
perspective before the picture disappears and is replaced by
another, if possible even finer. Suddenly, beyond a steep spur
jutting from the mountain on our right, the majestic Rhine is
revealed to our vision, whilst on the crest of a hill on our left
towers a romantic old castle. We dash under another railway
bridge faithfully guarded by the worthy Landsturm men.
Suddenly we enter a street so narrow that its entire width is
taken up by a Red Cross flag of more than ample dimensions.
Following this street as far as it goes, we suddenly come to
the bank of the enormous river whose German waters silently
flow between its prosperous and well-populated banks to
deliver their burden through neutral Holland into the mighty
bosom of the sea.
Once more the river is hidden by narrow streets, but soon
it greets us again in all its wonderful splendour as we cross its
dancing wavelets by a long pontoon bridge guarded more
zealously than any we have yet passed. Next we are in
Coblenz, where, at the point where the Moselle empties itself
into the Rhine, stands a gigantic statue of old Emperor
William on a charger. The plinth of this monument bears
the following memorable inscription : Ninimer wird das Reich
zerstöret wenn Ihr einig seid und treu.^ The truth of these
significant words is now indeed brought home to Germany
and to the world.
The road next takes us up along the right bank of the
J •’
Nftv^r sl^all t)ie Ejnpire be destroyed if ye united are and faithful."
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
