The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-05-20
JShe Conflict with tiae Leeislature-A Lesson
Borro~*ed from History.


The conflict Of authority which the recent ar
bitrary stretch Of power On the part of the lie.
gislature has given rise to in our city is assum
ing an aspect which occasions the greatest alarm
and anxiety 10 the friends Of public order. From
the accounts daily brought in TO US by our re-
porters, II would seem as If ii were fast drifting
nto that stage of animoeity in which physical
| force Is usually substituted for reason. With a
semi military body like the police divided into
Two hostile camps and obeying leaders who
cen determined to push matters 10 cxtremites
II IL not probable that the struggle will be much
ongcr carried on with paper bullets. The mag.
nitrde Of the interests and the violence Of the
passions involved in this question render the dau-
ger Of O collision imminent 1t Is to bs hoped
that the friends Of constitutional rights will
desvor by their good temper and moderation,
to avert such catastrophe, without, however,
abandoning an inch of the ground which they
occupy.
The position In which they stand ia indeed one
the gravity and importance Of which cannot be
exaggerated. They represent In the struggle In
which they are engaged not only the cause Of
popular liberty in these United States but the
principles Of freedom oil over the world. II was
| these principles which, asserted on limited
| scale and by small communities in the middle
ages, expanded from germ into glorious ma.
tUrity in the constitutional countries Of Europe,
and decended TO u as precious heritage. For
the first time since the Revolution these princl-
| pies ore assaled by despicable ollgarcby, who
have managed 10 obtain the control Of the legisla-
tive power at Albany, and II we do not now op.
| pose firm resistance to their encroachments, we
are likely to meet with the fate Of the free cities
Of Italy, which, after asserting and maintaining
their liberties for centuries were finally obliged
TO submit to the domination OF the arlstocrahc
factions which they had suffered gradually to In
wade their hard won privileged II is instructive
10 cast retrospective glance at the history Of
those brave little communities, and to apply the
moral Of their patriotic conduct and their miefor
tunes 20 our own case
After the abandonment Of Italy to the LON.
bards Wy the Greeks, The latter preserved several
Ifolsted ports and fortified places along the coast
Venice at the extremity Of the Adristlc, Raven
M at the south Of the mouth Of the Pc, Genoa
at the foot Of the Seyrian mountains, Piza toward
the mouth OF the Arno, Rome, Gaeta Naples,
Amslf and Bari, all maintained to a greater or
Ices degree their independence, and served as the
refuge Of Roman civilization. In these cities
all those who had preserved any fortune, indie
peDdence Of mind or hatred Of oppression, as
scmblod to concert the means Of resisting the In
science Of their barbarian masters From the
example OF these places and Of Venice which
owed lie rise 10 the pressure Of similar influences
sprung the host Of free cities and small republlce
such as Florence, Milan, LUCIA, Pisa, Sienna,
Perugia and Bologna, to which the subsequent
political throes Of Italy gave birth In these
communities was inculcated as paramount duty
tho principle Of resistance TO aristocratc tyranny,
and this doctrine served to maintain intact
the liberties Of the Italian people for ages, dt-
fusing ut the same time The benefit Of Its example
TO other parts Of Europe When the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa laid waste and devastated
Italy, in order to make good the extravagant
prerogatives which be claimed over the LON
bsrds, The whole country would have been re-
duced under his rule but for the coniedera'
ton Of the free cities Of Verona, Vioenza, Padua
Treyiso, Cremons and others, which resulted In
tho fusion Of tbe Guelph and Ghibeline fsctionS
and produced the famous Lombardy league. Alter
q thirty years coatest with the Italians, treder-