Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-05-12
OF THE EUROPEAN
POWERS.

England position taken by |
the English government in any Eu-
ropean complications differs in this
respect from that of any other pow
er in this important point, that it !
upon the feeling ofthe peo-
pie and therefore is fiuctuating and
just in proportion as the
people are divided and the one or the
other view seems likely to obtain
predOninance. So in regard to the
Eastern question, reaction against
the traditional policy of main
tanning the "integrity of the Otto
man empire" as an obstacle to
Russian aggression was agitated
throughout the kingdom during last
summer with great energy. Mr..
Gladstone being the chief engineer
of the movement-public meetings
were held in every part of the cOun-
try in which the atrocities of the
Bashi Bazouks or Turkish irregulars
were the main topic of the orators
who waved the bloody shirt in
style which might have done honor
TO our own MOrtous and Blaines;
sets of resolutions were passed,
monster petitions concOcted and all
the apparatus of popular excitement
put in active OperatiOn-apparently
with little or no effect; for the resO-
buttons of Mr.. Gladstone embOdy-
ing his anti-Turkish views, which
were presented last Monday in the
English House of Commons were
not taken up either by the ministe-
rial party OF the opposition and
their support was expected to be
confined to about a hundred Of the
personal supporters of Mr.. Glad
stone.# 1t is signal illustration of
the almost irresistible force of rOu-
tine that this should be so. FrOude
Gladstone and Carlyle-what great
ernames can be produced among the
political thinkers of England? And
these three neafteranOther have, by
cOgent reason and earnest eXpOstu-
latiOn, argued the futility of trying
to hold together decrepid, corrupt
and dying dynasty like that of the
Turks in EurOpe-they have argued
that it forces the English people into
an alliance with bigotry and fanati-
cal persecution, that it cOmpels them
to become the apolOgists of lust and
murder, and to constitute them
selves the confidential advisers of a
nation which refuses to be advised
by them and hates them worse than
it hates the dreaded Russia it inn
poses on them the task of forever
bOtching and tinkering at the great
cracks and breaches which are con-
stantly threatening the existence of
the Ottoman power, which in spite of
their efforts persists in a course
which can have no end but that of
speedy dissolution, and still a few
sounding phrases such as the sin
terests of the British empire" and
the "balance of European powers
reconcile them again to take up the
weary task of weaving PenelOpe's
web, which they know will be un-
travelled again as soon as their work
is done. So far then as protocols
and diplomatic notes can do it, we
have no doubt that the influence of
England will be eXerted against
Russia and in favor of Turkey, but
we are inclined to think that the OPP
position to this policy is stronger in
the country than in parliament, and
that it will be strong enough to pre-
vent any belligerent participation
in the struggle now inaugurated.
4ustrid.-Never perhaps since the
disasters of Austerlitz and Wagram
has Austria felt herself so strong as
she did when the KoSsuth revolt
had been suppressed and Hungary
handed over to her bound hand and
foot by Russia, who had crushed the
revolution which Austria herself
had been powerless to subdue. But
this very act pronounced the fiat of
her early dissolution; twas the death
blow to the unity of her empire.
In recovering her Hugarian posses
siOns she soon found herself the mis-
tress and keeper of a Gagged tiger,
and the tigerwas very. strongand the |
cage was very weak, and her rulers
were at their wits end. No further
help could be anticipated from Rus |
STA, for il soon became apparent that !
Austrian and Russian interests i'm
the East ran directly i'm the teeth of
one another, and when the Crimean
war broke out Austria would have |
been compelled to 90 10 war with !
Russia i'm alliance with Turkey, but !
that France and England rushed so |
furiously into that struggle that |
Austrian diplomatists found out |
that those two powers could be in !
duced to do her fighting for her.
And if there was no help from Rus !
STA there was worse than none from
Prussia. The old German Empire
shattered to fragments by the first
Napoleon had evidently to be rein
stated-Europe could not hold to-
gether without it, and the question
was whether Austria or Prussia
should be the prCdominating power
to rule it. 1t was a life and death
question with Austria, for, if she
ceased to be German, she was bound
To cease being an empire ut all-but
how enter intOa struggle with avigo-
rOus power like Prussia witha Gagged
tiger to take of? The claws ana
teeth were growing, the cage was
rusting, her treasure was exhausted;
she could neither hold nor feed her
tiger she determined to tame it
couldn't it be got TO rend her foes
Il. -. 4l,.,,, Inv-nIfO