Star.
London, England, 1823-02-17 00:00:00

THE PROSPECTS OF EUROPE.

Wars between nations, avowedly for .the redress of
leged wrongs, or to revenge real-or pretended in-
-.
riets, but, in realitY, Wt .thehope of being able to
plunder the defenceless, or to further The nefarious
projects of ambitious Sovereigns, have been of such
frequent recurrence, that they have long ceased to
excite surprise among mankind, notwithstanding the
Manifold evils thereby entailed upon theni. Indeed,
in these conflicts the Rulers, by -working on the baser
passions of the human mind, have generally con-
tfived to make their people parties, and to such an
extent, that not only the voice of revolting huma-
nity, but the cries of the.widow 'and the fatherless.
have been stifled by the din of war. There have, as:
history witnesses, been many instances also of un-
provoked assaults, for the avowed objects of conquest
and extent of empire; but among all the instances
that can be adduced of bloody desolating wars, and
the various objects and 'motives by which their con-
trivers and abetters. were Influenced and actuated,
there is not to be found in the whOle page of history
i single instance. that miy.be referred to as a prece-
dent for the war into.which•Burope is now about to
be plunged—either as to the array of the parties, or
as to the object for which they are about to contend.
Formerly it was " Nation rising against Nation, and
Kingdom against Kingdom," or sometimes "a Nation
divided against itself" in civil war; but never till now
were THE RULERS OF THE NATIONS leagued together
in a war to be undertaken against THE PEomm dir
THE NATIONS n—that is against their own pelple;
for the Monarchs stand .pledged to each other to
coerce the people of each respectively, if they sisal:
dare to claim any rights of which they have been
defrauded—or to pray for an improvement of their
political condition—or, above all, if they shall pi e-
same to remedy their own wrongs, when pressed past
endurance by the iron hand of ruthless Despotism.—
But will this holy enterprise prosper with thee Indy
men? Nu !—Most fearlessly, we say—No, nal--
The warfare thus entered on will, sooner or later, ter-
minate in their own irremediable destruction.
But we may be asked, how it comes that we speak
with so much assurance? Have not these good men
the same means that they ever had for getting their
pious designs executed—namely, the arming one por-
tion of their people, to be employed as mere ma-
chines in the work of slaughter, while another por-
tion is compelled to labour for the maintenance of
the Despots and their fighting men? And, possess-
ing the same means, why should they not succeed in
their enterprise?—lt might be answered, that as the
enemy and the alleged aggression are different from
any with which they have hitherto had to contend—
for it is not now the Monarch [FERDINAND for ex-
ample], but his people, with whom they mean to
commence hostilities, and that not for any evil done
by them to other people, but merely for emauci.
pating themselves from political slavery—so the ar-
mies of the Tyrants, though apparently composed of
the same materials as formerly, will also be found
different from anything they have shewn themselves
to be in common wars. In the approaching conflict
they will not—they cannot, in the nature of things—
ultimately prove the same passive instruments that
they have generally been in the hands of Despots
engaged in perpetrating acts of aggression against
each other. The men which form' the ranks—the
physical strength of an army—ere but little qualified
to examine abstract questions concerning the grOUnds
of national quarrels ; but in a case like that before
us; the cause of the assailed needs but to he stated to.
carry with it the hearts and affections of the hostile
ar.ny—and, where that is the case, in.what must the
conflict ultimately terminate? The precise steps by
which the issue may be developed are impossible to
be foreseen; but that the cause of Humanity, Justice,
and:Constitutional Liberty, must eventually prevail,
is as manifest as that we owe the light of day to the
presence of the sun above the horizon.
The positive result is not merely hypothetical. It
has, to a certain degree, beea exemplified, not only
in the history of other nations, but in that of our own
country—in the reign of JOHN, and also when JASIES
was driven from his throne. But these and all simi-
lar instances may be considered no: only. as re-
mote, but as differing much in character from the
results which the irresistible march of light and
knowledge must, ere long, produce over the face of
Europe—aye, and of the whole world. We have,
however, instances, not of old date, which ought to
admonish Despots respecting the part that their
armed people may be expected to take against the un-
armed, when the contest is once understood to be ke-
tneen Despotism and Social Freedom.

Look at France herself! Where were her armies
found arrayed when the general voice of the people
called for the restoration of long•lost privileges and
a constitutional controul over the acts of the Govern-
raellr?—Look at the same France when BoNA PA lITE
returned from Elba! Again her armies were found
ranged against the dynasty that had so long ruled
over her with despotic sway.—Will the gounnoNs
never take warning?—The armies of France, at this
Moment, want but a centre of union, to.call from
them the same expression of hatred against the reign-
ing Family, which the crimes of the race have so
long merited from the inhabitants of Europe; nor is
the time very distant when the Bou HBO:Vs—the whole
tact of if suffered to live, be every whet c

ntcasts aid vagabonds, depending for subsistence
on the humanity and benevolence of those towards.,
whom they had ever, acted as :per 7
Look also at Spain, whers.a,Booanom, restored; to I
his throne by tl:e loyalty and courage of a &mold
people; hid once mere reduced them to a state-4
bondage. Where were her armed children foSM4,
ranged when 'oppression, wrongs, and cruelty; drote
the rest of the nation, a second time, to assert theit.
rights?—Let the situation in which that kingdoni is
placed at this moment answer the question.
Portugal, too, holds out a lesson to Tyrants, were
it possible to teach them wisdom. When her Court,
in the absence of the King,. would have opposed the
public yoke in favour of Reform, that of the Army
decided the question—a To be coniinucdj.