The Arkansas advocate., 1830-05-05
'fa degenerate nobility and corrupted

SSHSAueO iooiAitJ ttliu COi1uI'tC
 people.
 France, in this period, was in the high est state ofinternal fermentation. The eommotlonsp produced blythe Bull Unige- ilitus were not yetsubdued. Byonepar y It was still regarded as an article of
 faith aild q law oi the state. lndefence oi 1t they dared to assail the very princi- pies of civil society, and to refuse the protection of the laws and the sacra-
 nents of religion, to all who appealed from it's authority. But the time was passed when the s' Sacred Congregation of the most eminent and most reverend cardinals of the Holy Roman Church -inqulsltors general in the whole Chris tan Republic against heretcs" could pronounce with effect tie sentence ol the greater excommunication against all those enemies Of the Church who should dare to pray in French or read the life of an appellant deacon. The body of the people resisted the pretensions of these spiritual tyrants. But the strug- gle was fierce and protracted. The natural relations of society were de- stroyed. The tribunals of justice were overthrown. To some indeed. the ac- cession of Louis XVI seemed to wear happy aspect. They saw in the meas ures of the new administration Q well directed endeayof to mitigate the fero- city of civil hatred, and to restore tran galllltyandpeace to this distracted coun- try. "The measures of the admins tfation,o says Noltaire, $ did honor to the king who ordered, to the minister who digested, and to the parliament which eonformed to them;n and he adds. and the assertion must cost him his rep utatlon as a prophet-" France saw the dawn of a wise and happy reignr' Wise and happy reign! A living ulcer had taken hold of the very seat of fife. and every pulsation served but to eircu- late its deadly venom. With vipor- ous hand and unsparing lancet, it's re- moval was perhaps barely possible, but such course would almost have re- quired the gift of intuition into human nature. 1t was however of no avail by fruitless concessions to throw oil on the lrritated ocean. The surface indeed was calmed, but the the tempest lost not its fury, nor was the rage of the waters abated. While high-spirited nation was chafed into madness by their per sonal dlstresses and the degradation of their country, i'll could they brook the sight of an intolerant aristocraoy, per- Yerting their wealth and power from the means of good into the instruments of evil, and of corrupted church es- tablishment, ministering with its es- tates and dignities to pride and licen- tiousness.
 Germany arrived in this period to the term of its existence as a united empire. So far from being master of his nominal dominions, the emperor found in one of the German states his most formidable antagonist. The high rank to which Prussia had been exalted by Frederic the Great, the influence which 1t had acquired over the interests of Europe. and the independent attitude it had as- sumed with respect to the imperial crown, produced an entire revolution ill the internal relations of the German states, They no longer formed com pact body able to resist foreign aggres- sion, or preserve domestic security. But so long as the tranquility prevailed, which Frederic made it his policy to maintain, the bond of common feeling. language, and usages, was sufficient to keep the German states together. Their rising literature formed Q tie of no com mon force. It was the work of the na- tion, and the sympathies of every true son of Germany made him a brother, to all who could participate in his exulta- ton in the literary glories of his coun- try; he could not look with feelings, other than those of generous affection, on his associates in the splendid work of calling into existence new world of in- tellect. Thus, though the political union of the German states was daily weakened, the subversion of the system was for the present averted by the moral union, created by the progress of their common culture. Though Frederic lent not his princcly favor to encourage the first efforts of the German Muse, within his own states he was the patron of every useful art and liberal science.
 Aspiring at once to the reputation of the hero, the statesman, the legislator, the philosopher and the historian, he acted