New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-03-06
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENCE.
THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND.

LONDoN, W. 80 >~OD'
We are still in the same state OF senile apathy
"a on~rulous concst-biamiDg everybody but
Twelve, in every rank ard class Of society. The
,.iadle classes blame the aristOcrscy, aud these
,sturp coptemptuous sneers and listless Obstina-
., ~ the fittest answers to pebeisD criticism and
reproach. Meanwhile, everything remains the
same, or nearly so, and no appearance ofa vigor-
Gus reform in habit, thought or system, manitests
itself in any branch Of rule or government Nor
do the people seem to care how things are man
aged or mismanaged by the weslthy and mono'o-
fizing classes, who have taught them to believe
that government belongs TO rank and wealth
alone. obedience and servility to common people.
The only people of some spirit in the nation
seem to be the editors Of few journals, aud
especially The TINES, which labors hard and fast
70 rouse the public feeling of the country into
something like sense of danger and of duty in
the present crisis. Ali the efforts Of The Times,
however, seem to do no more than open few
purses to send presents to the expiring army in
the East; no public meetings are held to give ex-
precision to the feelings Of the masses, nor petit
tions sent to Parliament to ask for active inter-
yention and change ofsystem. This silence Of
the people is the most alarming symptom Of the
malady revealed to US by late events. The ma
ton seems to be In mesmeric sleep; it sympa-
thizes with the press that calls for energy and
money and reform, and answers in feeble voice,
lust as sleep-walking patient answers all the
questions Of the mesmeriser. For months The
Times has now been hard at work, endeagOring
BY facts the most appalling, and by arguments
the most convincing, to produce change of feel.
ing in the people and a change of system in the
Governments but all in vain, or nearly so, 90 far
~ actions manifest the state of purpose and re-
solve In those who act. by all means beat the
"Ru,sians; drive them back into their frozen
.'wilds; defend US from their despotism and
"their barbarism; ask for money and for men to
"aDy amount and you shall have them to defend
.'tbe western world and civilized society from
"Cossacks and INSCRIPTIONS aggression; but do
"not wake us from our pleasant sleep; do not
Gus wait, like reasonable men, to see what can
abe done by those who have been trained to
"rule and govern, when they see that something
"must be done to save US from the dangers that
"you mention" This is the only sort OF answer
practically given by the British People to the
British Press, as far as can understand, at pres
ent. They are thoroughly biOlogized by forty
wears of peace and commerce, and the horrors OF
disaster and mismanaged war cannot rouse them
from their artificial state. One solitary meeting
has been held in England to petition Para neDt
to act with vigor in applying remedies where
remedies may be required the town OF Der
BY has alone petitioned Parliament to act;
all the other towns and villages OF the United
Kingdom ait to see what things W ii do to right
themselves, if left alone a lttle.longer. Aud yet
the sleep of England is restless sleep, sort OF
conscious helple~ness and bodily insensibliity, as
Introduced by chloroform, or uncongenial mesmer-
ism. Everybody feelsthe truth ofall that isreWaed
of failure and incompetency, but nobody will, as
vet, exert himself to find remedy. "What can
aldo; what can We dO1 Let the Government
.alone, and it will right itself in time; what do
eve WANT have we not got public press to
'watch the Government and to stimulate the ns-
"tcni Have we not more liberty and energy
Ethan any other nation in Europei What Is the
"u,e of changing governments or raising one
'class instead of anotherl are not the middle
"classes as corrupt and selfish the aristocracy
"Look at the railway management and the rail
"way king, who was llnen.draper of the lower
"middle class Look at our merchants and
"tradesmen, how they lie and cheat, adulterate
"and anyhow defraud Look at the people, how
- md nj vaa
"peRlect their children, and derde religion
"What is the use Of talking about classes and
"mirmanaRement one class is as bad as a1other
"and we must do the best We can with things al
"they are, and gradual improvement" This il
the substance of mddle-clsss talk. What the
common people think and say among themselves,
] do not know; but nothing is what they do, if we
except the few who enroll themselves In the mi
lita.
Thus We see that the public spirit is as dead In
England as in any Continental Despoti'm. Faith
Hope and Charity, Religion and True Morality, are
all but dead in Europe; commerce and industry,
wealth and pride and selfsh vanity are the pre-
vailDg passion of the age. America is probably
little better in some respects; how msch can
not say; but Liberty alone Republican or Con-
stitutional is evidently not enough to Christian
Ire the world In this the nineteenth century. The
English Constitution with its boosted liberty,
civil and religious, has now become laughing
stock in Europe Despots are agreeably surprs-
cd at the stolidity it msnfests in action, when
put to the test of war or its necessities. "Pab-
"lic Opinion and DespotisIn" as ruling elements
Of government, are now brought into comp arson,
and people wonder how it is that one should be