St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-04-07
War in Europe.

war seem 10 be the only weapons with
which the Gucrdan knot of its dissat-
isfaction can be cut through. The air
smells of gunpowdcr and TO make
bad worse, and expedite the explosion
which sooner or later is certain to oc-
cur, maniacs-some of them with
crowns on their heads-arc running |
frantically to and fro, waving their
fiery torches in the air, and making
wise men stand aghast at their mad
ness and tcmerity:
We see the swift winged arrows fly
We see the battle and the COmbatants
We know the cause for which the weapons flash;
We hear the martial music and the chants,
The shock of hosts. the armor clash,
As THOUGHT meets THouGHT -
and these two conflicting thoughts
are the usurpcd right Of autocracy to
govern, and the actural right Of the
people to govern themselves. And
how the mighty struggle will end, no
one in our day can tell 1t may eventu-
ate in the liberation Of European peo-
pie from the incubus of great stand
ing armies and of irresponsible dispo-
sition or it may take such a turn as
to throw the continent back into
deeper barbarianism than that from
which, with France at its head, it has
been painfully striving to eXtricatc
itself for the last seventy years.
Everything foreshadows war. The
only hope is that the visit of Lord
Cowley to Vienna may be attended
with a happy issue, but the chances
seem the other way. Louis Napoleon
appears determined to push matters
to the last cxtremity--to peril his
throne and his dynasty on the result.
Hitherto we have given Louis Ma
poieon credit for being shrcwd, eau
tious, willy man, who having, by a
series of unprecedented successes,
reached the throne Of France, was not
likely to forfeit the prize by ill:udgcd
caprice but we have evidently mis-
taken his character, as those most in
innate with him have. He has long
been brooding over the project which
he is now bent upon carrying into
execution, and the immense prepare
tons which for months past lie has
been making for the onslaught, prove
conclusivcly that his mind has been
occupied with what his lips dare not
avow. He paltcrs even with his
| friends in double sense he keeps
the word Of promise to their ear, but
breaks it to their hope. If any man
knew his intentions, Lord Palmcrston,
we should have thought, was the man
He sacrificed the position of First
Minister under the Crown for his sake
he was the first to sympathizc with
his overthrow Of the Republic. But
no one is more surprised than Lord
Palmcrston, at the course which his
! Imperial client is pursuing. The ac-
tons of man of this kind, battle all
calculation. Visions of military glory
rise before his heated imagination, and
he is impressed with the belief that to
him is confded the task of remodel
ling the map of Europe. We receive,
therefore, without distrust, the state
mcnt that he will take the field in per-
son, with Canrobcrt for his subaltcrn,
and the probability is that we are on
the verge of a war the direst and
bloodicst which has ever stained the
annals of modern Europe.
All Italy is bristling with bayonets
| Austria continues TO move on immense
masses Of troops towards the frontiers,
and in every seaport and military sta
ton in France, there is no abatement
of the din and note Of preparation.
The tone of the Paris journals is more
| truculent than ever, and the feeling of
resentment throughout Austria and
Germany, against what are thought
to be the ambitious designs of Louis
Napoleon, is represented to be gain
ing new strength daily. The French
and Austrian troops by this time,
probably, are withdrawn from Rome. .
and it remains to be seen whether the
Pope will be able to maintain his po-
sition among his subjects without their
support His Holiness himself would
seem to have some serious question
ings in the matter, as we are told he
has made arrangements to pack up
and go" to France, in case Young
Italy should make the Eternal City too
hot to hold him.
Trade and commerce, in all the !
great markets Of the continent, mean
while, are staggering under the panic ,
created by this now apparently near
approach to a tremendous crisis, or !
else are reduced to a condition of
positive paralysis, the full effects of
which upon the laboring classes must
speedily be felt,-efiects which must
add fuel to the flames when the gene
raj conilagration begins.
England and Russia pursue a GER
tain but resolutc course Their wisest
policy, unquestionably, is to keep clear i
Of the strife but, should circum-
stances drag in the one, the other, in
all human probability, would find it
hard to keep out.
Go for American | 4