The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-02-20

ed, intact They further debate the question of a
customs union, which, assmilating the revenue
laws of all the German States, the one with the
other shall bind them mere firmly together You
cannot afford the space which should REQUIRE for
an exposition Of the many minor questions into
which the great ends set forth above are divided.
But they are, one and all, comprehendcd in those
general issues, so few in number. Austria and
Prussia, after their fashion in the original Con-
gress at Vienna, have settled their policy in pri
vate, and act tremendously together of course
As the future immunity of despotism in Germany
depends in a great measure upon their over
whelming power therein, they seek to strip the
smaller States, each of some portion Of its pres
sent influence in German affairs. True TO that
instinct which governs States, as individuals the
lesser Powers tremble at the uuwonted concord
between Austria and Prussia, and are evidently
doing their best to SOW discord between them
Thus, il newspaper rumors be true as they are
probable, we have the Hanse towns and Saxony
on the other hand, and Wirtemberg and Bavaria
on the other, striving to maintain their own i'm
portance the first, by securing free trade which
latter, by contending for a greater modicum of
popular representation throughout Germany /;
which cannot fail to paralyze the power of Aus
tria and Prussia, as 1t must tend to weaken the
internal strength of those Governments
Schwartzenberg, who manages for Austria at
Dresden, has recently written a despatch to his
Government which, having found its way acct
dentally into the public press, could hardly fail
| to destroy the hope Of the maintenance of that
entente eordiale between his Government and
Prussia, on which the hope of the success of their
common plots rests, but for the fact that between
the pressure Of Russia without and Republican
ism within, Frederick Williams Government is
the merest apology for an independent Power.
| Ia this paper, the Austrian boasts that he has
Prussia under his thumb; that she does not Sc
riously oppose any one Of his plans for the sg-
grandizement of Austria, through what is now
| being decided on between them. In the days of
the Great Frederick so gross an insult would have
been resented by the instant marching of all the
dsposable military force of Prussia upon her in
solent rival But the seeds Of Republcanism,
which old Fritz unwittingly sowed, have already
borne fruit that forces his descendant to bear 1t
| in silence, though he boasts the most efficient
army in Europe out of Russia His soldiery,
outside of the line" are democrats and If trust
ed with arms in their hands, would, ten to one,
seek TO use them rather against the vampire
gnawing at their own vitals, than against the in
solent foreigner who, by his insult which Fred
erick William dares not resent, exposes to the
world the fact that absoutism in Prussia is on its
! last legs. new Prussian Assembly is about to
! be elected II will contain a large democratic
l majority which will not fail to seek every means
! to disgrace its own Government in order to rem
der it more odious to all classes in the kingdom.
1t will take high ground land popularl against
the sacrifice of Prussian rights at Dresden.
Shrewd observers believe that its resolves against
this policy of Manteufel will compel that minis
ter to decree its almost immediate dissolution
that revolutionary efforts will follow that decree
and that Russia and Austria will promptly put
armies in motion to maintain their new vassal
Frederick William, in his authority over his own
subjects as but two months ago Prussia, Bavaria,
and Austria sent troops to aid the tyrant of Hesse
Csssel and subsequently to force the Dutchies to
succumb to the illegal demands of Denmark.
! Now in the present condition of the popular
mind throughout the Continent, the only posi-
bic hope of the absolutists must rest upon the
slender chance that revolutionary outbreaks will
not occur in many quarters at the same time.
Their policy is evidently by the sudden marching
of troops from all points, and of all the consider
able Powers, to put down popular efforts whenever
they may occur. But if the peoples take it in
their heads to revolt wherever relieved from the
pressure of the troops, the Governments will soon
find their hands each too full at home to carry
out this all-important clause of the secret treaty
now being arranged ut Dresd,n Unless the
English Liberals are vastly mistaken on the day
after the people Of Berlin may rise to assert their
rights, Vienna will be in arms This is 80 clear
ly the game of the peoples, that it is next to i'm
possible that a serious outbreak can occur any
where in the Continent without becoming gene.
Ill IL IL = A.
be able TO disseminate news thereof
| have studied the stupendous effects Of the
energy and purpose of people enlightened and
liberalized as the people Of the United States
as developed in the progress Of our own country
too earnestly to be believer that the restora
tion y can ever become nm fat accomph in Europe
where mind is as free, well nigh, as in this city
of New York Austria may send back Radetzk,
to Italy, as she has just done. The Elector o
Hesse Cassel may by the grace Of foreign bayo
nets punish his citizens with stripes for daring Il
demand that he shall observe his oath. Schles
wig Holstein may be forced for the hour to sur
render to brute force, but the time is rapidly ap
preaching, when the element on which the Gov
ernments rely, mlitary-this brute force-will b
found of no avail The day has gone by in which
the sword was the power to be relied on in Eu-
rope with safety. Yet it is evidently the sole
dependence Of the Governments at this moment
In the last days Of the Roman empire, the sword
was not more glaringly the only reliance Of tyr
amy than now However much the condition
I intellectual industrial, and social-of Europe has
changed, the principle upon which the Bureau.
cracies would govern remains, intact, as it was
when Nero fddled while Rome was burning
the real sovereignty resting everywhere in the
immense army which each monarch has assem-
| bled.
This soldiery can scarcely be used except for
the purposes Of tyranny. la truth, occasions OF
tyranny are necessary to keep alive the military
spirit, which, like the serpent that grew from the
breast Of the eastern King, must feed on blood
while the peoples have progressed. The Govern
ments are yet barbirian--ignorant, inefficient,
and unskilful, as proved by their reliance wholly
on the sword, which daily outrages the better
knowledge and higher civilization Of those sub
jected to it, Such Governments cannot endure
in this era Their very nature incites resistance.
1t is morally impossible that Europe of the nine
teentb century will indefinitely permit the Gov
ernment of the Cloths. To believe that they may
be perpetuated much longer by this means, on
which they place their whole dependence, will be
| to assume that the world was made for half
dozen individuals-for that reduatio I'D absudvm Of
Prussia, for the culprit Of Hesse Cassel, for the
Brute Of Tartsry for the monster Of Naples, for
the imbecile Of Austria and the debauohee of Den
mark.
The only man among them oil is Nicholas,
whose manhood is the result of the accident Of the
semi-bar barism Of his country, not yet enervated
by the prevalence therein Of the vices and fOlies
| in which the western courts have been swimming
for the last century The King of Prussia is
fair sample of the kind of man for whom, accord
ing to the theory Of the governments, the millions
of Europe now exist--a very maudlin, who, though
capable of moralising the trowel Of ceremony at
some stone laying dsres not trust himself to think
! or to feel except as the man who he knows to be
the greatest enemy Of his country-Nicholas--
may please to dictate.