Harper's Weekly

“ The German Peace Festival in New York was one of the most significant days in the history of the city. During four hours the great procession passed through the chief streets, under a summer sky, and amidst the applause of thousands of persons crowding balcony and window and roof. Flags were every where flying, and there was never a more conscious sense of general public enjoyment than on that day. Hitherto our great celebrations have been American or Irish. But Americans are always ashamed to enjoy themselves, and the Irish don't know how. ”

“ There was a great deal of fun made of the German soldier in spectacles solacing himself with a little Hebrew when he was relieved on guard; but the foundation of the jest is as significant a fact as any in the explanation of the German spectacle. The best military system in the world will not make the best soldiers out of worthless men. It is as impossible to get the finest results from human shoddy as the finest cloth from woolen shoddy. ”

“ The English Sunday, which we in this country inherited, and which ought to be the happiest and brightest of holidays, is the gloomiest of days; and an Irish fair or feast is famous for the shillelah and broken heads. But the Germans have the genius of enjoyment. There is many a citizen of Dresden, or Munich, or Hanover, or Berlin, or Leipsic, or of the smaller towns, who gets more enjoyment out of an income of five hundred dollars than most Americans from twenty or forty times as much. ”