The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-12-06 00:00:00

BLACKWOOD.

The first five-and-twenty or thirty pages of this num-
ber are filled with poetry, chiefly from the pen of Mrs.
Hemans, some of which, to confess the honest truth, is
mighty prosaic. From this mass, as presenting a faith-
ful pirturr, together with a melancholy contrast between
the past and the present, we extract one piece, entitled
" Merry England :"-
7,lerry England!" what a picture do these simple words recall!
hamlets nestling in the shelter of the old ancestral hall ;

Towet and spire, and park and palace, halls *hose hospitable door
Never Yet repell'd the weary, never closed against the poor.

Bawls of yeomen brave and loyal, nobles courteous, frank and free,
Fearless rulers, firmly blending gentleness with dignity ;
Peaceful days, when old Religion, like a silver-circling band,
Clasped alike round prince and peasant, bound in one accord the land.

In their pew beside their household, Squire and Lady duly seen,
Blithesome looks at fair and and market, lightsome dance on village

green ;
Winter nights. where kindlyneighbonrs pass'd the harmless jest or tale.
While the fagot's cheerful crackle thaw'd the old October ale.

Ruddy children gaily whooping underneath the ancient oak,
Hoary woods around them ringing to their father's stalwart stroke ;
Sunny slopes, where busy sickles sparkled through Ile golden grain ;
And from darkening lanes at evening sportive laugh of maid or swain.

Still the land is fair as ever, still the sun's departing glow
LieS as bright on spire and turret, lingering there as loth to go ;
But the sunshine of the spirit, trusting tfoark and open brow—
Whither have they all departed 1 " Merry Ezigliini," where art thou
See through yonder blazing city, riot, blood, and fhttfuler rave ;
Buroiie's saviour scarce escaping death from those he fought to save ;
Startled streets ; whose mournful echoes render back the battle's din,
Flying crowds and charging horsemen ! Peace abroad—but war within.

Where the faith that with a glory wreathed the Monarch's sacred crown?
Where the ties that link'd the lowly with the loftiest Peer's renown
Where the reverence, deep and holy, which on lawn and ermine saw
God's own stamp, and in their wearers, loved Religion—fear'd the law ?

Altars spurn'd and thrones insulted, order scoff'd at, laws defied—
Factious subjects, dastard rulers, shifting with the shifting tide—

_ .
Doubtful present,—darker future ! Anxious heart and clouded brow,
These are now thine alter'd features—Mournful England, such art thou!
We pass by " The Sketcher" and " Fragm'ents of the
History of John Bull," not, however, as being unworthy
of a more particular notice, to pay our respects to
" France, in 1833." After showing that the first or
great revolution, by destroying the aristocracy, the
landed proprietors, and the church, levelled to the ground
all the natural bulwarks, both of regal power and public
freedom, the author concludes that all the subsequent
explosions in that country, down to that of the Barricades,
which crowned Louis Phillippe King of the French,
were but so many praetorian tumults, or janizzary re-
volts, which, while they changed the head of the Govern-
ment, reduced the people, under each succeeding change,
to a still more abject and degraded state of 'slavery.
After alluding to the tyrannical character of the existing
Government, as compared with that of Louis XVIII. and
Charles X., neither of whom dared to attempt what their
successor is executing, namely, the erection of forts corn-
manding all the approaches to Paris, which will enable
him to intercept the supply of provisions to a million of
human beings, in the course of a single hour, he says :
Experience, accordingly, has demonstrated, what theory had
long asserted, that the overthrow of the liberty of all free states
has arisen from the usurpation of the executive authority by the
democracy; and that, as long as the reins of power are in the
hands of the nobles, the jealousy of the commons was an ade-
quate security to the cause of freedom. Rome long maintained
its liberties, notwithstanding the contests of the patricians and 1
plebeians, while the, authority of the senate was unimpaired;
but when the aristocracy, under Cato, Brutus, and Pompey,
were overturned by the democracy headed by Caesar, the tyranny
of the Emperors rapidly succeeded. The most complete des-
potism of modern times is to be found in the government of
Robespierre and Napoleon, both of whom rose to power on the
democratic transports of a successful revolution. Against the
encroachments of their natural and hereditary rulers,_ the sove- '
reign and' the nobles, the people, in a constitutional monarchy,
are in general sufficiently on their guard: and against their
efforts, the increasing power which they acquire from the aug-
mentation of their wealth and intelligence in the latter stages
of society, is a perfectly sufficient security. But of the des-
potism of the rulers of their own party,—the usurpation of the
leaders. whom they have themselves seated in the chariot,—
they are never sufficiently. jealous, because they conceive that
their own power is deriving fresh accessions of strength from
every addition made to the chiefs who have so long combated
by their side; and this delusion continues universally till it is
too late to shake their authority, and, on the ruins of a consti-
tutional monarchy, an absolute despotism has been constructed.
Had the first Revolution of France, like the great Rebellion
of England, merely passed over the states vithout uprooting all
lilt)
its institutions, and destroying every branc of its aristocracy,
there can be little doubt that a coatitutio 1 monarchy might
have been established in France, and pose ly a hundred and
forty years of liberty and happiness formed, Is in Britain, the
maturity of its national strength. But the total destruction of
all these classes in the bloody convulsion, Itnd the division of
their estates among an innumerable'thost olittle proprietors,
rendered the formation of such a monarchy impossible/ be-
cause one of the elements was wanting which is indispprlsable
to its existence, and no counterpoise remained to the /Sower of
the democracy at one time, or of the executiliat another. You
might as well make gunpowder without sulphur, ne.i.ear up con-
stitutional freedom without an hereditary aristOdracy to coerce
the people and restrain the throne. "A monarchy," says
Bacon, ' without an aristocracy, is ever an absolute despotism,
for a nobility attempers somewhat thesreverence for the line
royal." "fhe revolution," says Napoleon, "left France ab-
solutely without an aristocracy; and this rendered the forma-
tion of a mixed constitution impossible. The government had
no lever to rest upon to direct the people; it was
.compelled to
navigate in a single element. The French revolution has
attempted a problem as insoluble as the direction of balloons!"
When Napoleon seized the helm, therefore, he had no alter-
native but to see revolutionary anarchy continue in the state,
or coerce the people by a military despotism. He chose the
latter; and, under his firm and resolute government, France
enjoyed a degree of prosperity and happiness unknown since
the tall of the monarchy. 1 hose who reproach him with de-
parting from the principles of the revolution, and rearing up a
military throne by means of a scaffolding of democratic con-
struction, would do well to show how he could otherwise have
discharged ttie first of
_duties in governments,—the giving pro-
tection and security to the people; how a mixed and tempered
constitution could be established; when the violence of the peo-
ple had totally destroyed their natural and hereditary rulers;
and how the passions of a populace, long excited by the uncon-
trolled riotin power, were to be coerced by a senate composed
of salaried dignitaries, destitute either of property or importance,
and a body of ignoble deputies, hardly elevated, either in station
or acquirements,- above the citizens to whom they owed their
election.
The overthrow of Napoleon's power by the arms of Europe,
for a time established a constitutional throne in France, -and
_gave its inhabitants fifteen years of undeserved freedom and
happiness. But this freedom rested on an unstable equilibrium;
it had not struck its roots into the substratum of society; it was
liable to be overturned by the first shuck of adverse fortune.
As it was, however, it contributed, in a most essential manner,
to deceive the world,—to veil the irreparable consequences of
the first convulsion,—and make mankind believe that it was.
possible, on the basis of irreligion, robbery, and murder, to rear
up the fair fabric of regulated- freedom. We have to thank the
Revolution of the Barricades for drawing aside the veil,—for
displaying the consequences of national delinquency on future
ages; and, beneath the fair colours of the whited sepulchre,
exhibiting the foul appearances of premature corruption and
decay.
- - -

The restoration and expulsion of the elder branch of
.the House of Bourbon is thus treated :
The first of these circumstances ,was the extreme national
dissatisfaction which attended the way in which the Bourbons
reascended the throne. For a monarch of France to enter its
capital hi the rear of a victorious invader is the most unlikely
•way that can be imagined to gain the affections of its inhatil.
tants - but to do this twice over, and regain the throne on the
second occasion, in consequence of such a thunderbolt as the
Battle of Waterloo, was a misfortune which rendered the popu-
larity of the dynasty out of the question. The people naturally
connected together the two events; they associated the Repub-
lican sway with the tricolour flag and the conquest of Europe,
and the Bourbon dynasty with•the disasters which had preceded
their restoration : forgetiing what was the truth, that it was under
thetricolour that all these disasters had been incurred; and that
the white flag was the olive branch which saved them from cala-
mities, which they themselves had felt to be intolerable.
This general feeling of irritation at the unparalleled cala-
mities in which Napoleon's reign terminated, was naturally
and skilfully turned to account by the Republican party. They
constantly associated together the Bourbon reign with the
Russian bayonets; and held out the sovereigns of the 'Restora-
tion, rather as the viceroys of Wellington, or the satraps of
Alexander, than the monarchs either by choice or inheritance
of the Franks. This prejudice, which-had too much support
from the unfortunate coincidence of Napoleon's disasters with
the commencement of their reign, soon spread deeply 'and uni-
versally among the liberal part of the people ; and the con-
tinuance of the Bourbon dynasty on the throne came to be eau-

sidercd as the bade of national servitude, which, on the first
dawn of returning liberation, should be removed.
The abolition of the national colours by the Bourbon
princes, and the studious endeavour made to obliterate the
monuments and recollection of. Napoleon, was a puerile weak-
ness, front which the worst possible effects ensued to their go-
vernment. To suppose that it was possible to obliterate the
remembrance of his mighty achievements, and substitute. Henry
IV. and Saint Louis for the glories of the Empire, was worse
than childish, and, as might have been expected, totally failed
in its object. In vain his portrait was proscribed, his letters
effaced from the edifices, his name hardly mentioned except
with vituperation by the Ministerial organs; the admiration
for his greatness only increased from the efforts made to sup-
press it ; and of his, as the images of Brutus and Cassius at
the funeral of Junia, it might truly be said, " Viyinti clarissi-
maruin fa miliarum imagines antelake sant, sed prcefulgebant
Cassius a tvie Brutus, et en ipso quod qffigies eorum non videbantur."
The universal-burst of public enthusiasm when the tricolour
flag was rehoisted on the Tuileries, and the statue of the hero re-
placed on the pillar in the Place Vendilme, in July last, and the in-
numerable pictures and statues which have been exposed in every
town and village of France since the prohibition was removed,
demonstrates how powerful and general this feeling was, and
exposes the enormity of the error which the Bourbons com-
mittedin endeavouring to bury it in oblivion. The tricolour
flag was associated in the minds of the whole young and active
part of the French population with the days of their glory; the
white standard with the commencement of their humiliation.
To compel them to adopt the one and abandon the other,
was an error in policy of the most enormous kind. It was to
perpetuate the feeling of national disgrace; to impose upon
the nation what they considered as the livery of servitude; to
debar them from openly giving. vent to the feelings• which
swelled their hearts even to bursting. The Revolution of July
was lass against the edicts of Polignac than the white standard
on the dome of the Tuileries; and the Citizen King owes his
throne mainly to the tricoloured flag which waves above hie
head in that august abode.

Our limits preclude us from giving more than the
following extract, on the subject of the press:—
The most singular circumstance connected with the present
political state of France, is the co-existence of a despotic mili-
tary government with a wild and imperative republican press
in the capital. This may appear incredible, but nevertheless
it is certain that it exists; and it constitutes an element by no
means to be overlooked in considering its future prospects,
because it may, in a moment, hurl the present dynasty from
the throne,, and elevate a new family, or different executive,
to the possession of its despotic powers. To give only a single
example of the length to which his extravagance is carried, we
select by mere chance, an article which recently appeared in
the Tribune:—

" The soidisant patriots of the day are in a total mistake
when they pretend that it is an erroneous system of taxation
which is the root of the public discontents. This is no doubt
an evil, but it is nothing compared to that which flows from a
defective system of social organization.
" The tyranny of the rich over the poor is the real plague
which infests society; the eternal source of oppression, in com-
parison of which all others are but as dust in the balance.—
What have we gained by the revolution ? The substitution of
the Chausee d'Antin for the Fauxbourg St. Germain. An aris-
tocracy of bankers for one of nobles. What have the people
gained by the change ? Are they better fed, or clothed,
.or
lodged, than before ? What is it to them that their oppressors
are no longer counts or dukes? Tyranny can come from the
bureau as well as the palace :—There will be no real regenera-
tion to France till a snore equal distribution of PROPERTY
strikes at, the root of all the calamities of mankind.
" The principles of pnre and unmixed democracy are those
of absolute wisdom, of unwearied philanthropy, of universal
happiness. When the rule of the people is completely estab-
lished, the reign of justice, freedom, equality, and happiness
will commence; all the evils of humanity will disappear before
the awakened energies of mankind."—Tribune, Aug. 21.
When principles such as these, clothed in insinuating lan-
guage, and enforced with no small share of ability, are daily
poured forth from the Parisian press, and read by admiring
multitudes among its ardent and impassioned population, we
are led to examine how society can exist with such doctrines
familiarly spread among the lower orders. But the phenome-
non becomes still more extraordinary, when it is perceived that
these anarchial doctrines are in close juxta position to the most
under
successive and rigorous despotism to which the people
successive Governments submit without any practical attempt
at resistance; that the citizens who indulge in these absurd
speculations are content to wait for hours at the police office,
before they can go teu leagues from the capital, and go quietly
to jail with the first gens d'armes who meet them on the road
without their passports.

We should like to administer the whole of this article
to all who are labouring under that frightful disease, the
levelling mania. Few of this class are aware that in
France the whole power of the state is exercised in the
metropolis, descending to the minutest and most trifling
particulars. A• church cannot be repaired, a street
widened, an Hotel de Ville rebuilt, nor can even a post
house be opened, without the direct permission Of one of
the officials of government, before which, to use the lan-
guage of a late Irish statesman, the people " stand
prostrate." This just punishment is the consequence of
that madness which, in its fury, destroyed the only body
that could have shielded them from a tyranny so over-
whelming, a powerful landed aristocracy, who could only
maintain their own importance by supporting that of the
people. It is much to be regretted, as we have a "cheap
press" disseminating an immense mass of matter that is
positively bad, and a great quantity that is absolutely
useless, that articles like the one now before us cannot
be published in a form better suited to the means of the
lower classes, who, we are told, are " thirsting for know-
ledge." Perhaps Lord Brougham, or his Liverpool co-
adjutor Mr. Teacher and Preacher Shepherd will take
the hint and reprint it in their Penny Magazine.