Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-07-26 00:00:00

England, laden, ..os she 'indeed is, with the most

=blessings of Teodorn civilisation, accustomed more and. more
to, internal peace, to; labour, order, and liberty, the
peaceful enjoyment of the, greatest blessings that nations can
desire ?

"Not only are thelinglish inclined in these days to :con-
sider war barbarous, but a considerable part of the• English
public, deeply imbu,,with christian ideas, regards it as a
sin. They hesitate,long, they weigh all the .mrounistanoes
before admitting:this right of drawing tlicsword, which
a short time baCk had given such little trouble to the
conscience 'of stations- er sovereigns. This tolerably numer-
ousportioneithe public have come by degrees to apply to
the conductor nations those absolute maxims that constitute
the idea:Lel...the christian life. They -do nit go so far as to
say that the,dutyef .people, like that .of a martyr, is to
suffer itself to be imraOlated, nor even to turn.the cheek to
the stniterz,_ but they, concede to a paaplo nothing beyond

. _ .
the ri.ght of defending its elistence, and they deny its right
of raising itself as !formerly or maintaining itself by arms
amidst the recurrin.g -conflicts that •agitate ;the world. They

,Inisinvented

that WAS utterly .fanknown to rlizabeth, ercanwell, and
Pitt; andvwhich.l4euis XIV. and Napuleon,:if .they take an
interest alma gnekthings in the ,ether world, must' bitterly

•
ea"rlier,ameng the Xrglisir people.
" It would be -wrong, however, to attribute solely to the
progiegs.af,tivilisation, and to tare influence, ofchristian

rict neutrality. Pride and 'Contempt,
self-egteeniranil th 6 ili'sdain of others, harve a large.share in it.
Right or -wrong, the English public base accustomed itself to,
recr.aid.the treater part of the ',continental nations as irre-

kes lesslintemst it

heir tria

,GAg as

lantr4 security does 3.4 appoar ;1- .4, 110 irnrfili }.llrrit tene7-1,
Elated, ino‘reover, by the progress ,of :her race, over every
part:of tlitzlobe,' by ',the wond ',lllll • devdlopmen t cif her new
colonies, iby I.heifourdution of those distant empires where
her custorns` .freedorn, indastiy, and all "the germs' of
her own peculiar greatness, 'live ',again :together -with' her
language, :England has insensibly been led to 'give to'coti-
tinentat alaticus.n:lessicorisiderable share in her affairs, and

to attach less importar9e to the -events that
of ETU:over. the bo,foed, not 'long Since.;:--Of bting,the first
`Jl:lusultuan powerinlthe World ; sheds also a great oceanic
yOwer, and she is a.grat Amerieszpower.„- and, anticipating
the future in this partiof the globe, she xeftses 'to e insider
Europe any longer as:the sole arena where at all ei•sta she
must acquire tor preserve the first -rank. Less •doncerned
aboit the progress of her anciext rivals, .she • is. also less
jealous of upholding-the balance of their power, -and of
13,ctehing their mutual encroachments, and this turn .ctf mind
is;-the more ,ach-antagerous to her :since' she finds a' pretext
herein for cpating. brtelf great Aacrifices and 4v,igorous
res.olutions.

" From all these-sentiment% good or bad, exalted orelfish,
s-Iresulted the, conduct,Of England in the presept,,erisis.
ae future alone till Aar whether she' has noferred., her

aigtons,nid wh

r, iu a(

dmilitr to Atuerie

continent filled
,with.soldierF,. If the mace party (which in
:England 'is the dorolnant „party, 'aS the War 'party is with
als).—tif the peace party has :been right—if it 'Vas actually
;rievco;led to England the.adrAirable Secret of preserving.b.er
iipthienCe over Enrope, AVithogt taking part in ita quarrel,
this parts has rendered its country an immense Service
tun the contrary, it has been piiStaken, if in prematurely
disertga,,„o-ir g England frata her.dnitiriental ties it has dePrived
her at the .aame time too :soon of her supports it has placed
in e rri trec .jeopardy riot only:Ilie -greatness of its 'country,
but iits very existence. .

" En fa,ct, the aspect of Europe museawaken now very diffe-
rent Oelings:ixithe breast af.a Frenchman and in that of an
EngliOmian,,and may giVe to the ,former. as many hopes as
to the :latter :just sources of unemihness. England can say
to herself, thave never been much liked upon the Conti-
nent ; lint -I Iv* feared there ; now they fear me much
and do not like pe more on that .account.
.I had not long
since before nito nation powerful and jealous, but isolated
and surrounded, as it Were, by my -natural allies ; now I see
in Europe only old enemies who have not pardoned
,my
successes, ogy old.friends who attribute to me their reverses.
I was accustomed .to fight .against one ulone,' with the help
of several ; I .may have to fight several, and can no longer
depend upon tie aid a one. '7fliose whon;.-I have left to de-
fend themselves,alone:would see me without displeasure unr
glergo the same trial, and would calmly represent to me that
it is for the general interest to localise the war... What boots
it to me if, sheltered by my ships,'"l" can defy',the whole Uni-
verse But it is very expensive -to have for the future to
guard one's self against the whole universe, null incessantly
to tke -in expectation. of a great day when all , will.
be 68nd:or-lost. Perhaps I was not wrong to have had,
formetly, allies in the world, .and -tó have accustomed them
to depend on sac, in order that I myself might dePend on
them. t have changed my system; the event will teach me
if-I have none right.'- Ou .her side, France .can consider
Europe with dome security, and even - some hope ; she' may
say to herself Formerly I could not raise my arm against
anyone without being immediately forced.to parry the blow
of another • .nowt. if I have any quarrel of this kind to settle,
.they will willingly see me at it, and there will be some to
applaud me, who formerly would have fought with me..
Pareere sub, is really a great maxim, and I have derived
great advantages from it. If I see an occasion or necessity
for it, I shall willingly apply the second half of the verse,
and shall thereby please everybody. But whatever may
happen here, I um surrounded with old adversaries, to whom
I have proved that I Possessed rather the power than the
wish to injure .them, and that I desired less their defeat
than their friendship. Let us wait and hope.'
" Snell is pretty nearly for us and our neighbours the moral
of the fable that has just been recited to Europe. This
fable is instructive for every one, especially for the philo-
sophOe and historian, who love to account for the progress
of human affairs ; it has a certain grandeur from the extent
of the scene and the importance of the interests at stake
,there ; but it also has a comic side, through the ridicule
'produced by certain actors. We most not seek to criticise
the .mysterious Ordainer of our destinies, if, being a good
prince, andlking sometimes to make ns laugh, it pleases him
to bestow a part on Messrs. Bright,' Cobden, and some other
persons of similar genius, in the event that ebenge the face
of the world