第48章

Emigration "What is the purpose of an imposed committee, that stands firmly in mid-air, that confers authority on itself without consulting the people whom it claims to represent or asking them whether they wish to be represented by such people?" -- "Everyone who knows Ruge, knows that the mania for proclamations is his incurable disease." -- "In parliament Ruge did not even acquire the influence of a Simon of Trier or a Raveaux." [70] "Where revolutionary energy in action, talent for organisation, discretion or reticence are necessary, Ruge is downright dangerous because he cannot hold his tongue, he cannot hold his ink and always claims that he represents everybody. When Ruge meets Mazzini and Ledru-Rollin this is translated into Rugean and published in all the papers as: Germany, France and Italy have banded together fraternally to serve the revolution." -- "This pretentious imposition of a committee, this boastful inactivity determined Ruge's most intimate and intelligent friends, such as Oppenheim, Meyen and Schramm to join forces with other men." "Behind Ruge there is no clearly defined section of the people, but only a clearly outlined pigtail of peace." --"How many hundreds of people ask themselves daily who is this Tausenau and there is no one, no one who can give an answer. Here and there you can find a Viennese who will assure you that he is one of those democrats with whom the reaction used to reproach the Viennese democrats so as to put them in a bad light. But that is the concern of the Viennese. At any rate Tausenau is an unknown quantity, and whether he is a quantity of any kind is even more dubious.""Let us take a look at these worthy men who regard everyone else as an immature politician. Sigel, the supreme commander. If anyone ever asks the muse of history how such an insipid nonentity was given the supreme command she will be completely at a loss for a reply. Sigel is only his brother's brother. His brother became a popular officer as a result of his critical remarks about the govemment, remarks which had been provoked by his frequent arrests for disorderly behaviour. The younger Sigel thought this reason enough in the early confusion prevailing at the outbreak of revolution to proclaim himself supreme commander and minister of war. The Baden artillery which had often proved its worth had plenty of older and more experienced officers who should have taken precedence over this young milksop Lieutenant Sigel, and they were more than a little indignant when they had to obey an unknown man whose inexperience was only matched by his incompetence. But there was Brentano, who was so mindless and treacherous as to permit anything that might ruin the revolution .... The total incapacity that Sigel displayed during the whole Baden campaign .... It is worthy of note that Sigel left the bravest soldiers of the republican army in the lurch in Rastatt and in the Black Forest without the reinforcements he had promised while he himself drove around Zurich with the epaulettes and the carriage of Prince von Furstenberg and paraded as an interesting unfortunate supreme commander. This is the true magnitude of this mature politician who, understandably proud of his earlier heroic deeds, imposed himself as supreme commander for a second time, on this occasion in the Agitators' Club. This is the great hero, the brother of his brother.""It is really laughable when such people" (as the Agitators) "reproach others with half-heartedness, for they are political nonentities who are neither half nor whole." -- "Personal ambition is the whole secret of their fundamental position." -- "As a club the Agitators' Club has meaning only as a private institution, like a literary circle or a billiard club, and therefore it has no claim to be taken into consideration or given a voice." -- "You have cast the dice! Let the uninitiated be initiated so that they may judge for themselves what kind of people you are!" -- (Baltimore Correspondent.)It must be confessed that in their understanding of each other these gentlemen have almost achieved an understanding of themselves.