The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-13 00:00:00

JANUARY 13,1855 " We all look forward to a revolution," said a gentleman o f great talent one day ; " we all look forward to a revolu tion: and when it does break out, the French tragedy will be but a game of play in comparison to it." I often thought of his words when I saw the peasantry with their axes stuck into their girdle, a national custom, and shuddered to imagine the horrid deeds they will commit with these weapons when their vengeance shall have been aroused for the many years of injustice and cruelty to which they have been subjected.-5. 136. Russia should have for its flag a Death's head, and the motto, ReAgurgam.-16. 170. No wonder that the Russians look forward to a revolu tion, for, let the people be ever so patient, there is a mea sure of evil whion cannot be borne fur ever.—lb. The lady endeavoured to console one gen- tleman who was lamenting the baseness of the official class. " They will behave more " nobly." she said, " when more enlightened." He replied : " Never, never! until a dreadful revolution has swept over the land, and destroyed every vestige of the Govern ment now existing, and of the corruption throughout every rank."—lb. As this idea of a desperate convulsion is so often expressly indicated throughout the volume, we may pause for a few minutes to ascertain as well as we can on what data it is founded, and what are really the chances of an overthrow of the existing form of government. That it has existed firmly for so many ages is some kind of presumptive evidence that its foundations are not so insecure as theorists like this Lady are apt to suppose. The government of the Czar is ameliorating the general Condition of the people quite as fast as they are prepared to support change. The peasants are jealous of innovation, as may be gathered from a remarkable anecdote re corded here : It will certainly take many years, ay, centuries, for such a people to be in a condition to appreciate the blessings of freedom; and perhaps they are too Asiatic ever properly to do so. It is almost dangerous to endeavour to ameliorate their state. The cousin of a lady with whom I was intimate, having just returned from abroad, where he has witnessed the good effects of civilisation, determined to devote his life and fortune to the enlightenment of his peasantry. The ignorant priest, however, made them believe that his design was to destroy their ancient customs and to subvert the religion of their forefathers. The consequence was that the slaves formed a conspiracy against him, and shot him tme evening as he was reading a book in his own sitting room.-16. 157. The extreme jealousy of foreigners felt by the people is also another obstacle to any great or sudden relaxation of the strictness of government. The Lady relates : Were a revolution to break out, I have heard it said a thousand times they (foreigners) would be the first to fall victims to the people's rage, for they are looked on as heretics and aubverters of the manners and customs of their forefathers, to which they cling as tenaciously as any Oriental nation. If the lower class were to rise, as some fear they will do, a Russian massacre of St. Bartholomew would inevitably ensue. The English were the most liked and respected by them before the late events; they are new the most intensely hated of any. ---lb. 271. But at present we fail to detect anything like general disaffection among the Russian people. Hardly as they may be treated in particular eases, they bear their sufferings as an inevitable yoke they have no power to throw off. We live as our neighbours do," said a yemstchick to the Englishwoman, who inquired concerning his condition. " I have a " wife and two children; we get plenty of black " bread and salt, and very often stchie. What " else could we wish for?" This appears to be the prevalent disposition, and the Czar is to them not the tyrant we are accustomed to consider him, but an all-wise and all-powerful fattier, who would be sure to redress their wrongs, if they could convey them to his ear. Then, what probability is there of any rapid change in the mind of a people so cut off from foreign influences ? In what way are revolutionary principles to spread among them ? Such principles are assuredly not of sudden growth. More than one generation must elapse before the mind of a people can be indoctrinated with them, and there is little probability of their ever taking root under a Government so vigilant that its eye is on every part of its wide-spreading empire. To rise against the rule of the Emperor would, the people are persuaded, be to destroy their only shield against oppression. For a like reason the proprietors must equally wish to preserve the power of the Government unbroken. They may be dis vleased with the concessions made from time THE PRESS. to time in favour of their serfs, they may view with jealousy and fear a power so much above them, and which on the whole appears to be on the increase, but they must be con scious that to destroy that power would bring them face to face with their serfs, and would almost certainly overwhelm them with swift destruction. The monarch may be overthrown, or particular members of the Administration removed, by a combination among leading personages, but the system of government would be no more shaken by such a movement than is ours by a change of Ministry. Under existing circumstances, however, uo suoh con vulsion appears in the slightest degree pro bable. And against any elianges of a revolu tionary kind we have a right to assume that the army would oppose a decided resistance. The commercial class must be socially powerful in Russia from its numbers and wealth, but it has no political influence, and, as far as we can learn, does not desire any. It is contented with its prosperity, and is yet very far behind that state when a commercial community becomes pervaded by liberal ideas through growing knowledge and intellectual ambition. From men of letters—were the press free — the Russian Government might indeed dread mischief; but even in that case generations must elapse before the mass of the people could be influenced, and as it is, with a most watchful censorship, it is impossible that revolutionary tenets can be spread from this source That there may be much whispered talk in salons of " le Made de Louis Quinze " is in telligible, because the danger of such conver sation must impart to it piquancy, but on a calm consideration, the circumstances of the countries are wholly dissimilar. The immense extent of Russia and the isolation of the urban communities must oppose almost insuperable obstacles to revolutionary progress. How the material power of this colossal empire is to be checked forms the great pro blem of our day. Its continued aggression is undeniably threatening to the liberties of the rest of the world. The obedience of its people; the solid wealth of its traders, independent of maritime commerce; the great fertility and vast extent of its territory ; the unlimited despotism of its Government ; and the power it possesses to bind all its provinces to gether, and bring them into pro m p t cor respondence with the central authority, are elements of strength which we are only be ginning to comprehend in their full extent. The Englishwoman only left Russia after the war broke out. She is an evidence, there fore, of the changed feeling towards the Eng lish which the quarrel produced. We gather generally from her statements that the na tional spirit of Russia was enlisted on the Emperor's side. The war itself was not popular, she says, but all the blame of it was attributed to the English and Lord Palmerston. Preparations for hostilities on the mightiest scale were made at St Petersburg, and, says the Lady In speaking of the Anglo• French invasion, the Russians declared that if the enemy took Cronstadt they would them• selves burn St. Petersburg. as they did Moscow in Isl 2. Indeed,it looked somewhat as if they had the idea in view, for all the great families were sending their jewels, plate, and valuables into the interior, whilst many of them went to their estates with the intention of remaining there a whole year.—lb. 315. She writes, a little further on : The check that the Russian arms are receiving at oar hands we may be well assured they will neither forgive nor forget ; and even centuries to come they will, if they have the power, take their revenge for it: it is their national character, and they will never rest until their thirst for vengeance is slaked, if it be possible.—lb. 321. It is the fixed resolve of Russia to ultimately attain her objects which renders her power so dangerous to the peace of Europe, and also renders it necessary that her hostility should he met by a determination equal to her own. " The State," said Burke, in one of his mo inents of purest inspiration, " which is resolved " to hazard its existence rather than abandon " its objects must have an infinite advantage " over that which is resolved to yield rather 1 " than carry its resistance beyond a certain " point. The nation which bounds its efforts i" only with its being must give the law to that " which will not push. the opposition beyond 41 " its convenience." This is a truth which some of our statesmen have yet to learn. In the strife of nations the victory commonly belongs not to the richest, the most civilised, or even the strongest, but to tho most resolved and enduring. The settlement of Europe is broken up. We must prepare for a hollow truce or a lengthened war. The space occupied by this notice will show our sense of the value of the Eng lishwoman's volume. The two books atten tively read will give an adequate notion of Russian life, from the splendours of St. Peters burg and Moscow to the daily existence of the peasant, dependent for bread on the skill with which he uses his axe. The barba rous hordes of the North have often swept like a cloud over the fairest portions of the civilised world, but the circumstances of the existing time are altogether novel, as the mightiest empire of the North, ever ruled by a single will, has now all its resources organised and all its forces directed from a civilised centre—suffi ciently civilised, at least, to avail itself of all the advantages of knowledge and science for the operations of war. The peril is not to be underrated. The slightest concession made by the powers now standing iu opposition to Russia will stamp them with degeneracy, and, to the mind of the statesman and philosopher, too surely foreshadow the future calamities of the world. The British Commonwealth ; or, a Commentary on the institutions and Principles of British. Government. By Homersham Cox, M.N.: London : Longmans. WHETHER any more "commentators" on the English Constitution are required at present may be variously answered. Lawyers (we use the word in the learned, and not the vulgar meaning) will possibly say that Mr. Sergeant Stephen's "Commentaries Founded on Black stone " render any other work unnecessary. But then it may be replied that neither Black stone nor Stephen discussed the English Con stitution with that boldness of tone and regard for " first principles " which of late years has come into vogue. The rise of a historical school, also, which traces national develop ment through a long chain of moral causation, has tended to produce dissatisfaction with merely juridical works on our Constitution. The difficulty, however, is to find minds ca pable of treating such a theme with exact legal exposition and enlarged philosophical views. It is not enough to state with accuracy what actually is, but some will require that " commentators" should be able to indicate what ought to be, the law. Mr H omersh am Cox has endeavoured to solve the difficulty of giving{ us a thoroughly legal view of our Constitution, and informing his exposition with a philosophical spirit. Accus tomed to abstract science, and author of a well known work upon the " Differential Calculus," his present performance indicates a mind fami liar with sustained processes of ratiocination. Thoroughly independent in his views, he has produced a graceful sees, on a dry subject, and displayed much acuteness and aptitude for reflection in his volume. Between Eng lish society in its political reality, and the English Constitution in its legal boundaries, the essayist does not sufficiently discriminate. It is true that he apprehends the distinction, but he does not enforce or illustrate it with the requisite clearness. In the main features of the English Constitution there is an evident moral unity, as seen in the various treatises of Coke and Hale, or of Blackstone and Stephen ; but between the living spirit of English so ciety at various periods what an amazing diversity ! Thus it is apparently easy to pre scribe au English form of Ciovernment for foreign countries, but we cannot transplant the manners and customs under which it has grown to maturity ; and the history of the last ten years of Europe has proved that constitu tional seedlings do not flourish in eery soil. Mr. Cox also shows that his views of life are not of that close, practical character which can be gained only by extensive knowledge of classes of mankind. The man of thought and bookish habits is evident in his pages, and his proofs of opinions he advances are taken from various speculative writers