The Van Buren press., 1870-08-23
From the Boston Evening Traveller, tRadical'l
The Liberalism of the Biiiegerents,

Inc LlDerallsW VI ING oihSSSAo"'''
The miserable shifts to which the adj
vocates of the Prussian cause IN THIS
country are reduced are well exempliiied
in the attempts they make to snow tha'
Prussia is the champion OF liberal princi'
pies! II, they argue, substantially, the
prussians should be victorious, those
principles will achieve triumph, ahu
continue to advance but should victory
be with the French, they Will experience
a check, and despotism be the Sainer
/ The force of impudence can go no lar
ther than this. 1t is, indeed, one o.
those cases in which there is not one
step from the sublime TO the ridiculous
for the two things are most happily com
bined--nterlaced, as 1t were--h 'hlS
preposterous attempt to show that frus'
sia is under concern for liberal ldeas,ano
has assumed the part Of their champion
against the despotsm loving Frenchmen
Even the endeavors Of the English u
show that Mr. Jefferson Davis and Gene
raj Lee were the champions of freedom
and nationality were not more exquisite
lv absurd than this effort Of Americans
to convert William / and Count Won
Bismarck into the last hopes OF the Eu
ropean world in its labors to establish
the supremacy Of freedom OF thought
and freedom of action. Every nation Is
to be judged by its entire history, when
we would assign to il purpose IN any
great undertaking in peace or in war
Thus judged, what do we find France
to be2 Essentially liberal acting ma
ton. Certainly she has not been in every
case true to liberal ideas, and some OF
her political actions deserve severe con
demnation, and have received 1t from
great historians but on many occasions
She has done, what no other nation OF
continental Europe ever has done. good
work for freedom. On some occasions
she aided the cause of the Reformation ;
and often she was friendly to England IN
the Elzabethan time, when Protestant
ism was establishing itself in that coun-
try. Had France joined heartily with
Spain against the Reformation, not even
England and Scotland could have become
Protestant countries. AS the champion
of the liberties of her own church--the
Gallican Church-Francc lessened the
power Of Rome, and helped prevent the
establishment of spiritual tyranny
throughout Chrstendom.
In the war of our Revolution, France
not only was our potent friend, and rem
dered our cause assistance, the value OF
which it is impossible to exaggerate, but
she drew Spain and Holland after her on
the same side. The wars of the French
Revolution were all favorable to freedom
aud Europe owes most that Is good IN
her present condition to French victories
won between 1871 and 1872. Even Prus'
sia owes all that is liberal in her institu'
tons to such victories, for they com
pclled her government and her mobiles,
much against their will to create Prus-
sian people. Baron Won Stein, with all
his savage hatred Of Napoleon, was moth
ing but a child of Napoleon's triunphs.
In our own time, we have seen France
help pull down that odious supremacy
which Russia held IN Europe for forty
wears, and the part that she had in the
creation of the Kingdom Of ltaiy-the
Italian Nation--is one of the noblest in
cidents that "stand recorded in the
known account of time
Against all these things, what can be
cited from Prusslan history to show that
Prussia history to show that Prussia ever
did anything for freedom 7 Nothing
not one fact All her political action
has been directed to the plunderlng OF
other countries and almost all her wars
have been waged in support OF her rights
to keep what she had stolen. The Prus-
sian soldier has fought to sustain the
Prussian robber, She stole Silesia from
the House of Austria, and carried on
great and long and bloody wars to main.
tain her hold on that country. She was
the most guilty Of all villainous thieves
that united their wickcdness and their
strength to partition Poland. or the
three rogues who accomplished the first
and greatest stage in that neiarious bust
ness--nations well represented by the
prude Maria Theresa, the atheist Frcde.
rick, and the strumpct Catherine--Prus
sia was by far the worst, for IL she had
not gone for the partition, Austria would
not have gone for it---and with Austria
and Prussia opposed to it, Russia could
have done nothing. Prussia was one OF
the earliest nations to make war against
Revolutionary France, merely because
France had substituted a constitutional
government for despotic government.
Even the wars Of 1Sl3-l5-including
the Liberation war, rs the first Of those
contests was called were not fought in
the interest Of freedom, but to regain
what Prussia had stolen, but which had
been taken from her in part; and that
she might have opportunities to steal
more-and she did, with the aid of Rus.
sia, steal part of Saxony, and the Rhine
Provinces. Her Government, when de-
sirous Of melting her people to fight well
against the French, promised them libo-
raj institutions; but no sooner was the
war over, and Napoleon condded to the
charge of paltry British .jalers than the
promises made were all broken, and a
thorough despotism was established.
Prussia became a member OF the notori.
Gus Holy Alliance, that most infamous
an | hypocritical of fpolitcal leagues and
on many occasions she was conspicuous
as its instrument in putting down the
liberals of Germany. In 1881, she aid.
ed Russia, in various mean and indirect
ways, to reconquef the Kingdom of
Poland" IN ls4s, she became tool of
tho rancfinnists anainst freedom In En-.