What astounding news! Really I could hardly believe my ears, when I heard it. Here the excitement and delight of the people know no bounds. Poor Emperor! his career had ended, and he brought his fall upon himself, and one cannot but pity him--especially for having been the unhappy cause of so much bloodshed and so much woe, which never, never can be cured! So many hearths made dismal, so many happy homes miserable, so many hearts broken, and above all, so many unfortunate men groaning in untold suffering! Unhappy Emperor! he has all this to answer for, and yet he is a kind-hearted and feeling man! He has done the best thing he could for himself under the circumstances, he is sure of the most chivalrous and generous treatment at the hands of the King, and he has of his own free will surrendered to his equal which is not so humiliating as being driven from throne and country by an infuriated populace. Such a downfall is a melancholy thing, but it is meant to teach deep lessons; may we all learn what frivolity, conceit, and immorality lead to! The French people have trusted in their own excellence, have completely deceived themselves; where is their army, where are their statesmen? They despised and hated the Germans whom they considered it quite lawful to insult; how they have been punished!
We have now no less than 120,000 French prisoners in Germany! is it not marvelous! Add to that more than fifty generals and the sovereign himself. And even now, the French will not believe that they have been really and fairly defeated; they attribute it all to chance and accident and deny each of our victories.... All this misery draws hearts closer together and brings together those who in happy quiet days would have passed one another without taking any notice. The feeling of belonging to one great nation for the time obliterates all feelings of north, south, high and low, all particularism; this I must say is very delicious to experience; simplifies all things and gives a new impulse to all exertions. Poor Germany! she has dearly bought her unity and independence with the blood of her sons. It is a great satisfaction to me to see how Prussian Wesen, discipline, habits, etc. etc., is now appreciated and seen in its true light; its superiority acknowledged with pleasure and pride, instead of jealousy, fear, scorn and hatred. We owe to Frederick the Great and his father, to Scharnhorst, Stein, and Hardenberg, what we are, and we said it with gratitude and not in vainglory or conceit. We are worthy of England's sympathy and approbation, and feel sure that it will not long be withheld from us.
When I think of the Emperor and Empress in the zenith of their glory, in '55 and at the time of the exhibition when all sovereigns in Europe paid them their court, and they were so amiable and courteous to all, it seems a curious contrast! Gay and charming Paris! What mischief that very court, and still more that very attractive Paris, has done to English society, to the stage and to literature! What harm to the young and brilliant aristocracy of London! It would be well if they would pause and think that immoderate frivolity and luxury depraves and ruins and ultimately leads to a national misfortune. Our poverty, our dull towns, our plodding, hardworking serious life, had made us strong and determined; is wholesome for us. I should grieve were we to imitate Paris and be so taken up with pleasure that no time was left for self-examination and serious thought! Ancient history teaches the same lesson as modern history --a hard and stern one for those who have to learn it by sad experience; the poor Emperor has leisure now to study it!