The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1899-09-29
Present-Day Thoughts.
BY "NEMo."

A Glance Over Europe.-According
to st. Paul, who evidently spoke from
knowledge, there is in everyone of us
a warfare between the good and the
bad. To have these two conditions ex-
istent within ourselves is to be nor
NAL, but when in the struggle the evil
gets the upper hand then there is cause
for alarm indeed. Now it is interest
ing to believe and very interesting to
try to prove that nations are just like
individuals. If the ideas and the ideals
of the majority Of nation are sound
and practical and somewhat similar
then it is safe to foretell for such a
nation, just as one would for an indi-
yidual, progress, power, repute. View
ed in this way the healthy and rather
unpampered character Of the Russian,
the scandinavian, the German and the
BritOn promise strength and continu-
ance to their respective lands. Yet one
knows that there are very bad ele-
ments in the extremes Of society in the
first, third and fourth of these, but not
sufficiently bad to color national life
Scandinavia will have governmental
troubles within the next quarter of a
century, but the sound sense of the
people of Norway and Sweden will
probably lead to the avoidance of war;
fare and content itself with political
change. The trouble is chiefly that
they are under the rule of an imported
monarch, a Bernadotte, and second,
that there is a jealous rivalry between
the two halves of the kingdom. Not
withstanding this last feeling, how
ever, it is quite within the range of
possibility that Norway and Sweden
will develop a republican form Of gov
eminent, whose integrity, like that of
switzerland, will be guaranteed by the
great powers around.
Division Of purpose, though her peo-
piles are morally sound as a whole, will
probably be the undoing of Austria
Hungary, after the death of the EN-
peror Francis Joseph; for eighteen diff
ferent languages and almost as many
different sets Of ideals hold sway with
i'm the bounds of the empire. The
northern part Of the eastern portion
may possibly share the fate Of Poland
and be absorbed by Russia. In the
southern part Of the eastern end we
may expect to see more principalities
created like those at present existing
under Russian domination in the Bal
kan peninsula. The western portion
will probably retain its identity as
Austria, but the general tendency will
be for it to become Germanized.
Belgium will have before long some
very unhappy experiences. The peo-
pie will grow tired of puppet royalty !
as at present played by the king of
but instead of there being for
us any feeling Of pleasure in looking |
forward to the formation of a repub-
lie upon the ruins of this royalty, there
is cause for dread. Belgium is too |
French i'm its character, to effect such |
a change decently and in order. Its
city dwellers are wretched, crowded,
and form precisely the right |
soil for growing another crop of hor-
rors like that of the Commune. When |
the political change comes there will |
be French interference and such strong |
German opposition to any appearance |
of q French increase of territory, that |
these two nations will set themselves |
for final struggle. The inevitable
result will be the defeat of France
France is tottering to national decay |
because there are more individuals in
it of low personal ideals than there
are of high. No nation of Europe |
more thoroughly shows a likeness to
an individual in whom evil has tri-
umphed over the good. Because there |
is constant distrust within it, there is
to be distrust Of it, Because there is
such constant pursuit of the present |
there is positive doubt Of the future.
Because it suspects the nations around |
it Of stealing, there is within it the
spirit Of thievery. Because the might,
Of it's army has been directed to the
crusher Of one man, there is room to
suspect that the leaders of the army
have no real care for the nation, eth
er as to the moral health within it or
as to its reputation among the sister
hood of nations. Religious only in a
formal way. and content to substitute
the bowings and scrapings of polite
ness for the real gold of character, it
shall become poor though it is now
rich. and it shall become weak though