Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1846-03-12
HIS TO RIG AL .
From the New York Evangelist.
The Austrian Empire.
NO. g..
BY REV. JOHN S. c. ABBOTT.

apOleon had 1t not been Tor the timely succol
hich the wavering troops of Wellington recev
b from Butcher, with his Russian forces, the
russians demanded of their king the fIfllment
his promise-to confer upon them constitu,
On. But Immediately the Emperor of Austria
lterposes with an imperious prohibition. 81
lnnot allow" he says, " free institutions to be
so near my throne. My subjects
i'll thus be melted to desire the same / shall
consider the granting constltu-
On to the subjects OF the Prussian monarchy, as
e declaration of war against Austria, and shall
invade your territory with my whole
ilitary force" The king of Prussia has not
It redeemed his pledge; and he cannot do it
ithout encountering all the calamities of a long
I'd doubtful war. And it is supposed that Rus
a is ready to combine with Austria, to prevent
ee institutions from obtaining any foothold in
russia, or in any other the neighboring king
)ms
One would naturally suppose that under such
popular indignation, though
lothercd, would be deep and strong. But this
by no means the case. Mind is so stagnant
Austria; the peasantry are so servile and ig-
rant, and the mobiles so utterly abandoned to
cir rounds Of dissipatng pleasures, that as a
neral thing, there is no discomfort with the
A dull and stagnant tranquility
5 settled down over the whole land. All that
Austrian asks, is that he may be permitted to
e to- morrow as he has to-day-wthout change.
c knows nothing better, and he desires nothing
tier. The white inhabitants Of the United
Rtes, in their boundess freedom, not only man
st but feel almost infinitely more dissatlsac-
ln with the acts of their government, than do
Austrans with the rcsistess despotism I'M
which they repose. All travellers unite in
presenting the inhabitants Of Austria as on the
ole gay, thoughtless and contented people;
yer dreaming Of any government better than
Dir own, and satisfied with things as they are.
among the thirty millions who people this vast
hglomerated empire, here and there thought
person begins to exert his energies, and de-
Tops symptoms OF discomfort with the cstab-
he'd order Of things, he is Immediately arrest
by an argus-eyed police, and buried in dun
ons from whence he is never heard of more.
is said that there are now many noble minds
INJURED in the dungeons of Austria, for daring
think THOSE gloomy cells which have been
flowed by the suaerings of that great apostle
liberty, La Fayette. Man singularly adapts
mseIf to his situation. Even from the panta-
ms of South Carolina and Alabama, where
e Southern slave wears away his life in UNI
id toll, crushed by despotism far more intoera-
e even than that Of Austria, the elastic mind,
frauded and degraded as it is, will find sources
enjoyment And shouts of insane and mind
IS merriment are far more frequently heard
om the cabins of the negro, than lamentations
despair. 1t is said that there is no country
Europe where there is so little physical suffer-
9 as in Austria none where lazy ease and
lpid unconcern SO universally prevail in the
vellings of the poor
1t is the noble and the enlightened mind alone
lich feels the restraints of seryitude, and strug-
as in irrepressible agony for freedom. Ages
oppression paralyze all these energies which
noble man, and degrade him to brutal STAN
I'D. Mindless man thus becomes but all over
own child, careless and merry. All his joys
e puerIle and noisy, shallow and transient.
nd this degradation of the soul, which constl-
ties the very deepest curse which despotlsm can
and upon its victims, is even presented by the
jpressor as the palliative of his crime. Our
sople, says Metternich, are contented with their
/. The contentment Of the people, under
ch a government, and in the endurance OF
ch wrongs, does but show the depth OF their
basement. The mind is first robbed of all its
oblest attributes, that it may supnely submit to
e robbery of every right.
The Emperor of Austria is, in the ordinary
tceptation of the terms, humane and beney-
ent mana kind despot. The ordinary ad-
Illustration of Justice in the empire, between
Jan and man, is good. And there are very
any and amiable virtues which adorn the roy
family
The late Emperor, walking through the streets
Shonbrunc, attended by an Aid, during the
hoera, met coffin which was being conveyed
} the cemetery, without any accompanying
"Why is this coffin thus Abandoned!
lquired the Emperor. 1t is doubtless" the
id replied some poor person, who has no rel
lives" Well then, said the Eeperor, &" il
gu please, we will follow it ourselves, as mourn
rs" And uncoverng his head, he reverenty
,Ilowed the corpse to the grave, and then
moving upon it the first spade-lull of earth, re-
red. Allowing the uncharitabe construction
hat this was done merely for effect, it was, UNI
eniably in an absolute monarch graceful act
nd showed in touching manner his at leas
emporary recognition of the true brotherhood
f man. Such traits of character, frequently
have greatly ondeared the royal fam
Iy to the people. The Austrians generally love
heir master. And they would probably fight "a
'rayely to maintain their despotic government
" rather to obey the commands of their masters
whatever those commands might be, as woul,
he inhabitants of the United States to MAINTAIN
heir freedom.
Not long ago, the illness of the Empero
brew the whole empire into dismay. The En-
,oror ,vhan convalescpnt was takinu an airin