The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-11-17
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
;TaIiasDa1 MORNING, NOVEMBER II, 1855,
THE POWER OF RUSSIA.

THE POWER OF RUSSIA.
Various computations are given of the mn
itary force of Russia Her muster rolls eA''.
bit s5o,ooo infantry and 100000 cavalry, ue'
continental muster rolls are said to De iaiia.
cious to proverb; and it has been reh"h nes
that fact deals worse with them thah pi''a'"
battles Alison, the European historian
,b;nks that the true estimate of the Russian
.r,,, CO.. o,a,s;ye war would be 100000 IN
f.n,rr mo 600 horse and $4,000 artillery men
;n,be field We agree with the opinion OF
Al. writer. that force of this order, If IT
could he suddenly concentrated, flung into
.he heart of Europe, and rapidly man@uvrea
there. would produce terrible effects. But
.ro doubt whether Russia could make any
s,cb rapid and consolidated movement, and
now that England and France are prepared to
receive her, we believe that she would De the
rr;ncipal sufferer from collision France
alone in single campaign, overthrow her
colossal power; and if Napoleon had struck
the blow in spring, instead of winter, Russia
would have been dismembered, and the great
Emperor would never have uttered that me-
morable prediction of Russian domination
over Europe which, of late years, seems ever
and anon, on the eve of fultilment.
Great as the military power of Russia is,
il ought to be remembered that the military
resources of the other leading powers of the
Old World are by no means insignificant
Towards the close of Napoleon's Empire, the
army in France was calculated at $4,000, or
one in forty of the population, number twice
as great as that of the Roman armies under
Augustus, in a population of 10000, oo0.-
The Prussians have an availableforce OF 30o,-
600 men. The Austrian army is 100000. En-
gland has a regular force of 10000 men, and
an army in the East of upwards of 100000
/. is obvious that, with Europe united, no
danger is to be apprehended from Russia.
Nor even with the aid of Austrians and
Russians, do we believe that she can over
come French army of half a million, and
an English Navy. Moreover, if the Russian
Emperor who is not overwhelmed with cash,
attempts to make war in Europe support it
self, he will be shipwrecked on the same rock
that ruined Napoleon. He will arm against
himself not only the soldiery but the masses.
Men who will neither fight for nationality nor
glory will fight for property, and every able
bodied subject in every State of Europe,
who has dollar to lose, will level his musket
at a Russian, upon the same principle that he
would shoot robber
We have no belief that Europe is in any
immediate danger from Russian conquest, or
that the Russian Emperor himself however
much it may be his policy to magnify the ex-
tent of his overshadowing power, could be
persuaded to try his strength with the princi-
pal European Governments. Russia is slow
ly accommodating the materials of boundless
devastation, but the day has not yet arrived
when they can be efficiently used for Euro
pean conquests. The elements ofstrength are
gradually being developed and systematized.
The clouds, which threaten the tempest and
storm, are scattered over vast expanse, but
the hour has not yet come, when collected
and combined in one black and overhanging
mass they will descend in irresistible fury
upon the jewellers in the plains.
Europe has the power to avert altogether
this evil day, but it will never be averted by
her present forms ofgovernment and her enor-
NOUS, nonproductive military establishments.
The despotisms which crush her people to
the earth, have none of those capacities of
resistance which are found in popular affec-
tion and loyalty. Their roots arenot embed
ded in the popular heart, orif they reach be-
low the surface, it is only to strengthen every
genuine feeling of pride patriotism and in
dependence. The enormous cost of her i'm
mense armies eats out all her productive
strength, paves the way slowly but surely for
individual and national bankruptcy, and
drives her people into emigration as the only
refuge from oppression and ruin. Could Eu
rope become free, she would be more secure
from Russian aggression, with her armies dis
banded, and the pursuits of peaceful industry
encouraged and rewarded than she is at this
moment, with million of bayonets bristling
around odious thrones.