The Holy Alliance And Swi...
The Times, 1824-02-03T00:00:00

Never were nafions, Nvho still possess any degree of freedom or independehce, more interested in watching the proceedings of foreign Powers, than ij the age in which we live. Formerlyi the world be. held coalitions of lings to su>bjugate inoffensive nations, and to share them out among them like herds of cattle, but Snever til now did we see the principal Powers of a vYst continient entering into con- ventions for exercising over each other a mutual guiveillan=e in the interest of despotismn, for extingnishing, or preventing from coring into existence, instit utions favourable to their subjects, or to those of statet over\ whom they dlomineer ; or, In a word, for ar- I resting the human race in its pro,gress towards civilization, or forcing it as far as in them lies to astrogmade towards barba- rism. The late Spanish invasion-one of the greategt politicalI crimes wbich was ever gommitted-has dlisclosed bDy its results the' views of the Hloly Alliance. Inateateive mlinds. however, might still believe that this event was uncoinnected with a gdneral system of oppr-ession, and thlat it west only intetided to repress a military in-; suirrection. It miay be uiseful, therefore, to undeceive thnem, anid to convince them, that even though the Constitution of Spain rnad beenl the work of the King and his Ministers, the wiar must nev etthle- less have t-.hen place. The Holy Alliance respects the willi of its separate members, or of governments beylond its pale, as long as that will is conformable to the interists of arbitrary power; but it disallows or opposes their wishies a3s aeon as they appear to be favourahle to the liberty and Independence of nations. I mlight suipport this statement by reference to a great number of facts which hiave been exhibited in variouis countries, buit I rhall content my- self at present. witlh an, acco-unt of -what has of late years taken place In Switzerlana. Swvitzerlanqd is the least calculatedl of all countries in the world to hispire its nehchbourc with fear. Containinrg at most only a popu-. lation of a million and a lialf, it is divided into 2-2 states, each of' wltichi enjoys a complete independence of the rest withi respect to internal affairs. 'Not only has every Stare its own Guvernmet,t and its own latys, but they are divided from each other by a difference of! manners, of religioni, of language, and ex~tent of civilization. In the smaller cantons, and particularly in tile centre of Swltze-lantl, we! finid still tite ignorance, the superstition, thle corruption, andI the ptre- jndice of the msidlle ages ; whilie in others we mieet with a popula.- tion at once einiligter.ef, mioral, and religious, without a t .incture of fanaticism. In the vallies whichsare watered by the Rhione, and the inountains wahich discharge their streams inito tltat river. the Freiteb) lanuguage is alone undlerstood: in the valliLi andt mountLaitts whichi di- rect their waters to theo Rhine, nothing us spokeni buit Germnan; while the Italian s lthe m-edliutml of counnutitication in ttie this- ric-t3 wlticit inclinie towardsi Italy. Religion is a catase of dli- vision still more powerful, several cantonst carrYing to fanaticism thieir atuteltmeit to thte Catholic chuirclt, vwhile othters profesq thte ostos rigidl adherence to tite Reformed faitli. In addition to) tltis, ,witzerland has no standing army. The serVice required for i-nter- nal security is performed by tlte militia, or a small nutiober of gendaLrmes. In no state does there exist ani ilvsembly wltose sittings are pubilic ; andt, wvith the kxception of Geneva. thvere is not a canton) which possettes a single writer engagedI in political discutssions or ~peculati(vns. Titesle different states are onlv'united by a fedleral go. vernmienr, whiceh has at its disposal neitlier treasures, nor armnies, nior power, anid whoase menmbers assemble onlly at distant intervals. Sucim it country wonluli appear to be little susceptible of revolu- tions ;especially if we considler that in general tortuncs are More. equally distributedi thani elsewhere, that taxes sc-arcely exist, that the safety of no citizeni is menaced, and that the men wlto cani. not find the means of existettce at home, are in tite liabit of expa. triating themselves to serve in the armies of other States, or to be- come tdomestic servants toD foreigners. Thus for ages Switzerland lias enjoyed tlte miost perfect tranquillity, and experienced nio other shiocks titan those received from foreign Powers. Its most constant mraxim has bceen not to meddle in the affairs of its neighibours, and nieyer has it excitedl in thtem either fear or jealouisy. To its inoffensive policy, as much as to its inaptitude for foreign en terprise, it has owed the security wvhich it has enjoyed for several ages. To considerations derived from the internal state of Switzerland, weniuat adld those whicit spring from its geographical position. This confederation has every cliting to fe-at fronm Austrriaftom Prussia,fromn Sardinitt,and from France,whtile it can expert no sttccours from otiter cotintries, or at least from thtose most likely to oppose the wiMites of tite Hloly Alliance. It is, therefore, impossible to ascribe to it ainy subversive viewvs, or to imnagine that it cani ever entertain pro). jects for dlistuirbing the peace of its forinidable neighbours. To execute suchl designs, the inltabitants of tltese peaceful canitons want b)otht miotive and tite mieans. NotLwithstantding thtis stLates,t t'hinigs,tlienagentsof the holy AllianreehavLe, durin,gtlieteast g leara,, unceasingly tormientedI theta, andl pu!shed titein to acts calculated to compromise them. They have demartded frem them every, thing that could slhock iheir ancient prejudices, or degrade them-- in- thei own estimation ; and thie most remarkable circumstance is, that thtis oppression has faiett nwst hecavily on those whon cottld feel it most poignatntly. At all tiiest Switzerland htad teen ip the habit of givinig an asy'. lum to mien whom political persecutiolk had dIriven from their own couintry, without inquiring what opinions they entertained, or what lanti gave thecm birth. At che beginning of the French revoluition, the emigrants who had ti foght for royalty, fl'und a refuige in the coun- try, tvhich hiad affordedl arcasyluosl to the jrwdges, of Charles I. ; and the gentiThwn,sme whio had drawn his sword for arbitrary power went to repose from his faIguson the tooih wliich coveredl the ashes of Edmndin( Ludilow. Geea, feeb)le as it was4, refused to obey thie ierench Converstion,whic.h Ordered it to expel the emigrants to whom it had viclded-An asyltttin, and( its refusqal was not thieni imptitted as a crime. After thie ;econd restoration of tlte Bourbons itt France, thet per- secutions whiichi were its consequience threw inito rtie Swviss terriforv a cerpriut number of old men. slestituts of influence evets in thetr ow7n country, and some officers whoic fled froml the vengeance of a party whomn they had often vanquished. These fuigitives, separated frothM e,very friend, and cusst on a stranKe laud where thev were totally uin- known, certainly could g,ive tio reasonable groundI of' alarm to the HolyAllanee Hoever tley n soner reachedt Switzerland titan the wee srrondei wth mutitdeof spies. TheFrerncliorern- suet rquied he xpusio ofallon hom' it was p rete-nded there-! was rga grund or nflctin puishent and the deliverY of tboie whowee spysel t b libl t betredby Frettel Courts. Many of teseunfotunte mn sandeed Oralng tinms in Itie Moutntains, withuout kisowing wrhere so seek an asylm. In stie miidst of this distress, one of the Swis Ctovernments hnid the weakness to arrest sorne of them, and deliver them uip to the French police. Thea revolutions of NVaples and Piedmont next introdluced a still tgreater numtber of refueees tnto Swvitmerlandi. The foreign Miinisters: at irt ip6ratively dlemandled the expulsion of tlte greater t,a, and as it belongs to the natatre of' despotisin to be abiturd, ersof; the members of the h1olv Agiznce at tile same simse refusedt to let any of these tunfortunat~ exiles pass throstglh its territory. hlow. ever, it wvas not lontg titat mere demands for expulsioti were ad. hered to : Austria ordered_a ccrta,n litumber of 1,1ilanese so be given. uip to hier: attdI thlat hier ordter mighit not be eludedi, she required that tisey should be delivered into tise bands of lier secret zagents in the cantons. As the execution of this order requiired tite econcurrence of several members of thit, Government, tlte secret was nout easily kept. It reachedl the ears oft titose wlto were to be arrested, andt the'y arte. seeded in escaping froilt Switzerland uinder borrowved tiames. In onie of the p-ittcipal cantons, the Government htad Ithe weaknress to, pla,'ec one of its, own agents unider the canimand of tlse Austrian spiesithL order% to oirrest atnd deliver ulp a mats whio was demattnded ;and if the innkeeper with whom this person lodiged had not afflorded him ma,ans of escape, the rhameful exam-ple woaild hanve been exhibited of a Power iseizing by its own agents, in an iadepen- dent suste,ment whom, it Tas wvished to sacritice,to political vengeance. These measure-i having ic-qi eti degree of publicisT, all men who had anyv thin to fear f-ront the Holy Alliance toot care: to leave Switrerlatnd.1 YIhe only foreigners who remained were thtose' -who had been long: resident in the cOuntry-thosRe wvho had received authoriTty for their stay fromn titeir- owtt Governments, or those tlito were mcrely tiavelling for pleasuTe. Trie hloly Alliantee was scarcely assured of its triutanph in Sipaini, whten it began againi to pay- attentiots to Swizlraiid. Six of it,, Ministers assembtled at Patris, in the formi of a congress. Eacil .'iinister produced a list of the men whose proscription lite reqtuiredi, and the itusmber wart founid so amouint to 200. These lists, wvhichn were accomupanied by notesi of a nattire most. violent atid insoliting towards an indepettdente state, wvere. trattsmittcdl to the Governmnttts of the Cantons. Passports svere ordered to be delivered to the exiles for two maritinie towns in 0 r. m7any,i rtie Hloly, Alliance taking tile c-barge of transporting them tO Ainerima But this plan Isas not been executed, and the reason will soon be seen. The reder wsiil be cuiriotis tO knots wlto v-ere titese twe' liunidred ituen so dtangerous, to the Continental Monarchies. Thee, were of the followingz description c-Some hadl never been itt Switzerland ; seve- ral liadl left it many yeairs before ; others niad- been settled for twenty or twenty-five year.s in the counttv, carrying on their businiess or professions; atniong, theml were infirm old mett of 60 or 70. At Ge- mneva,' for examnple, a niait of' 75, who had resided in that state. dUtring twenty-five years, and wliot earnied a livelihood 'sy teacht- ing Italiall and -music. was proscribed. A Savoyard officer, who liasi served in tIme frencim aruty-, against whom no charge of any kind existed, sehmo was entirely devoted to agriculturt, anitl whose labouits, in concert with those of hiis wife who taught the Gierm4n language, supported a numer6dus family of' clilldren, wasi 'also piroscribed. It wvas in vinit that-onie of. s'ne m-ost respectable citizenis of the atate presentedl a petition int his favour to the Govern.- mellt. He wasq obliged to obey tlte miandate of the Holy Alliance, and leave the counn?', with his numerous f-amilyv. Onie olti man of nearly eighty year.s o~ age, completely deaf und'paralvtic, and ano. tlIer nearly ass old, and stiffering under ntumerous infirmities, were expelled fromi the canton ot \Taud. An old village schoolmaster, who had been for twenty years emlploved in teachiing children to reasl and4 write, was lilsewise thoght, v;ordly of the attention of thie Holy Allies, and placed on the fatal tlist. soting coulte exceeat tue levity vitb which these lists were drawn up, as mav be seedi by the following manner in 'shich ian individual is referretd to:-". Y'ou vwil pr6scribe-_ whonlivesnear you; sand if )ou,do niot find him, you will proscribe - - for tee have soine reason to believe that he is thle same person, under a different eamse." . . A Paria advocate hjsd retired to Geneva, as miuch from averaiton to the system .fthe Frenchiovernment as to escape from prosecu- tions to which be was exposedl. The Glovernment bf Va=d o1f ered him the Plrofessorship of Legislation in the academy of that canton, which hadtjust become vacant, The first tsousght of the advocate was to refase the offer * and it is said hie was only induced to accept it by the urgent entreaties ofhis friends. . In ftlieinean time he was placed on the Holy Alliance list and the Government of the canton was ordered to banish the man #Iey' had invited to their territory, and lmade a pofessor.. .eeli?;' I,' c, 0 ^O -t dishon6nt then'selved, he 'Att rities of v tat to Spt, t andeipiessedawlsh tokinow thefacts of thecrgeonwhichthe or. der *Sa founded. .The only aus-wer they reeIved s more positive d'er, -and it is hard to say what might h6ve ocude& liaeLXtt the Professor, on leaTning ' yWhat was going -onj asked' pe l'o the Government to retire with bis farnily Whteh asof weurse niost readilygranted. - A rtepetable ecclesiastic established in the ianton .of PFbare ,choQls o mutuaLlhstruction, which excited the interest-of all tra- vellers_in that part of Swi zerland. This mode f teacbhg obtbed great SUCcess, and-the most certain wayoFagitatwg'the countat,Was to ateackathisa schools. In fact, serous troubles-'wer6thecorise- quenee of the' first menaces directed against thebm Such vas the state of things that had not Father Girard voluntarily resigned,and exerted hlimsef .to tranuitillize the people, the Holy ADlees wtold have had a petence fdr the invasion of Switzerland similar to 'that by which -they seek to justify thelr attoCious conduct towards Spain. . No one in Switzeriand has the least doubt of the part taken by the agents of the Hely Alliance. The Government of the canton of Vraud had of itS~ own accrd established the libertyof the press, and rarely no great harm could happen to the Holy Alliance from this measure for in that comntry no writer meddled with politics, and the, journals servilely c(Fled from other- published in different parts of the continent. ow- ever, the re-establishment of the censotisip was required. Govern. ment had to submit to the samr.e yoke; and as Joarnal of gislation and- Political Economy" weas suppressed. In fine, the great con_. tinental Povas lhave neglected nothing to dithonour Switzerland in the eves of foreign nations, and to degende her in her. own. But what'are the motives, and what will be the reault, of these violent measures ? ThiS quesdon red_ir55 too long an answver to be resolved here, and must form the subject of another letter. I have stated that the Holy Allianes at first intended to trtnsport to the American continent the men proscrl rodby the ministeriall ts, and thatthis plan was not carried into execitiO. The fidlure may, be *thus accomnted for.-When the Holy Alliance deberatesthe diffe eut members act as one bodr, and the decisions e _pres ,e wishlof the naaiority,but when the time for executioncomes,the indiVl, mem- bers recover in some IAeasure their independence, and are sow-timC5 obstinare enough to act in conformity with their own particular views. Thus it will happen, that those who were in the minority may coit?' teract the resolutions carried by the majority. This has occurred in the present case. The Alliance had directed that no passports sthould be given except to the places :-,Psciied, but sorme Govern- ments overlooked this regulation, and gran"td them for various other points. THB HOLY ALLIANVEE AND SWITZERLAIVD. ARAU, JA1J20. ao..