The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-12-17


an oath that atIlrms primary allegiance to
the State; that in Austfia the school sys
tenn has been largely wrested from the
clergy; that Spain Is ruled by CAsrElAH
and his confederates instead Of ISABELLA
and the Church; and that France Is the
enlyi country. in Europe where there il
seemingly q spiritual revival.
At:this point we quote from the writer.
Communication as follows: M:
France, after 200 years Of licentious'
ness and impiety under the dim eclipse ol
that pride which ever walks before de-
strueton, now overthrown, humiliated
and despoiled, shows indeed some super
fetal signs Of returning faith. Her high
altars shake with sorrowful lltanies,
which are mere wind blown, through In.
ert organ reeds, and all will 60 home
again presently, their bellies filled with
the east wind. Religion as well as that
sentiment sometimes mistaken for It,
which issues in music and idle journey
ings, springs out OF sorrow, and 1t Is q
sorrowful cup that France has had press.
ed upon her unwilling lips. 80 her pres
ent mood Of humility and supplication Is
natural enough, but II will not last.
When prosperity comes again then will
ensue the old mockery, polite, witty, AGA.
demic, the old greedy hunger for sensual
delights, the old scorn and scof at priests,
and their medieval machinery. In none
OF the Catholic lands can there be dis
cerned spirit which promises TO rise In
formidable collision with the established
order Of the State. There are certainly
no serious weather signs in the neighbor-
hood Of York or Canterbury; no peculiar
agitation moves the Presbytery Of. Scot
land; no Luther thunders along the bor-
dersi OF the Baltic. Orthodoxy every
where has indeed enough to do TO defend
itself from the onsets Of science and un-
belief without venturing outside OF Its In.
trenchments to give battle. II is certain
ly not easy to see when the conflict pre-
figured by MIR. Disraeli Is TO begin, or
with what weapons the Church proposes
to contest the powers or undermine the
authority Of the State.
But that great and important social
and political changes impend in Europe
we think there can be little doubt. Spain
Is perishing IN convulsions; knightly
France, after brandishing her lance and
buckle In q thousand lists and through
thousand years OF victory, has been
hurled down by o new russet-bearded,
and chested warrior riding
forth from his castle and keep by the fair
Rhine lands, and France will limp and
halt henceforward to her grave. England
long since voluntarily waived her claim
to be regarded as an important military
power, her armaments barely sufflcipg for
her own protection and for the contin-
uance OF her rule over distant, timid, and
unwarlike peoples. But until recently
she has held, and perhaps still holds, un-
disputed precedence as the first manuiac-
turing and commercial nation on the
globe. But there are clear signs that
this supremacy Ia passing away from
her. She Is losing her trade In
Occident and Orient. America makes
her own iron, and ere long India will
weave its own cloth. England Is already
unable to maintain Der surplus Of agri-
cultural laborers, and Joseph Arch comes
hither to see II we can make room for
them in our new land; she will soon be
unable TO maintain her surplus Of artisans,
and when that day comes there will be
Just such an exodus from her shores as
there was from those Of Ireland during
the famine. Her people will emigrate In
floods, and then her industrial supremacy
is past. Her Manchester hands will spin
bobbins In Georgia and Massachusetts,,
and her iron workers will man the forges
and furnaces Of Pennsylvania and Mis-
souri,. For many years intelligent Eng.
lishmen Of all parties have discussed the
utility ot the monarchy; and the House Of
Lords has long been but hollow pageant.
A month OF the reign Of q new George
w., and he Is possibly not far of, would
sweep crown and scepter, coronets, mace,
bag.wigs, heaters, courts OF chancery,
and the like, into the dustheap Of things
outworn and useless, and France and
Spain would have new Republican
neighbor. These are not empty copjec-
lures or groundless vaccinations. Ali the
signs which import great but not violent
changes In governments are present
at this moment in Great Britain.
She will not suffer from wars, but
will succumb to her inability 10
maintain, under changed industrial and
commercial conditions, her immense over.
Of population: Not to the contests
Of Church and State are We 70 look Tor
the immense vicissitudes and changes
which impend over Europe, but TO the
conflict Of political systems and the ope-
ration OF industrial and economic laws.
Prussia Is strong and stable, powerful In
the realization OF an ancient national
idea, and butressed by recent victory.
Russia, which, in Asia, is power potent
for vengence or protection, is 10 Europe
0 frontier. Austria, old, worn,
apathetlc and buried beneath o mountain
Of debt which she has translated into
military defeat and territorial dismember.
ment, need not be considered. She will
obey the law which governs the dislnteg'
ration Of outworn States. Nothing in the
condition OF Europe visible from this
transatlantic point OF view strengthens
me conclusions Of Mr.. Disraell, but every
thing imports conflicts and changes quite
as important as those which might ensue
from o struggle for victory between the
forces Of the Church and the forces Of the
State, the contest Of liberty and author
ity. -,.- !. ,.--- ...--