The American Quarterly Review Part 11

"The British islands, at that time the only country in Europe which united under a monarchical head, moderate, but on that account more solid principles of freedom, with an equal balance of the different powers of the state, were at the commencement of the American disturbances in a progressive state of the most flouris.h.i.+ng prosperity. For this happy condition they were indebted to their freedom and eligible commercial situation, together with the inexhaustible treasures nature had deposited in their mines of coal and iron, on the existence of which the industry of their diligent inhabitants is princ.i.p.ally founded. Political ebullition existed in no higher degree than was necessary to give proper life, and less, perhaps, than was necessary to preserve it in all its purity, a const.i.tution which, long since acquired after the most b.l.o.o.d.y struggles, was more deeply rooted in the modes of thinking, and in the manners and customs of the nation, than it was imprinted on them by the letter of the law. The government had sufficient leisure to direct its attention abroad, and by means of hostile enterprises, and political treaties, which must sooner or later give a naval power a decided ascendency, held out a helping hand to the commercial spirit of the people who aimed at making (and with increasing hopes of success) the remainder of the world tributary to it, for the productions of its fabrics and manufactures.

"The plan of supporting commerce upon territorial acquisitions, and of forming an empire out of the conquered provinces of India, whose treasures should flow back to the queen of cities on the Thames, was already fully developed, and the exasperation against the western colonies was to be attributed as much to a mistaken commercial interest as to a spirit for dominion. The ingredients of the British national character, ever more coldly repulsive than amiable or attractive in its nature, had produced an almost universal antipathy not alone of the public mind, but also of the individual affections, against a people in so many points of view so highly respectable, and being unceasingly fed by that envy which every species of superiority involuntarily creates, produced the most conspicuous influence in the development of subsequent events."

The author then proceeds to notice the proceedings of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, in relation to Poland, until its final dismemberment in 1795:--

"It is unnecessary," he says in conclusion, "to give a further exposition of the leading principles of the three courts which began this work of annihilation, and still persevered in it, contrary to the solemn stipulations of treaties lately entered into, just at the moment when a new const.i.tution, enthusiastically received, had offered every guaranty of security, the want of which had served to give an air of legitimacy to the first spoliations. External aggrandis.e.m.e.nt in the acquisition of territory and population, and internal considerations, so far as they afforded means of attaining the object in view, are, in short, the features of these unnatural principles. This economical digestion of an administration merely of things, not persons, may be termed excellent in its kind. Taken in this point of view, the Prussian government gave the most splendid proofs of the beneficial results which may be attained by military organization. Austria and Russia had followed this example; _and it required later events to prove, that the calculation is not always correct, that a standing army, forming a state within the state, is the only support and rallying point of a government, and that no system is safe, but that which is founded on the internal strength and unanimity of the people_."

Having sketched the political situation of Europe, at the commencement of the American revolution, the author proceeds to notice the interference of France and Spain;--the situation in which the colonies of North America were left after the acknowledgment of their independence;--the adoption of the new const.i.tution;--the extraordinary prosperity which followed;--the immense acquisitions of territory, and the accession of wealth and numbers. He then traces the effects produced in Europe, and most especially in France, by a partic.i.p.ation in the struggle between England and her colonies, and the contemplation of their subsequent prosperity and happiness. The spirit of emanc.i.p.ation was caught from the new, and was fast spreading itself over the old world. This spirit first produced its practical effects in France, whence it reached England, and almost all the states on the continent of Europe, begetting a revolution of ideas at least, if not leading to the revolution of governments, as it did in France.

The spirit of conquest which was perhaps forced upon France, by the necessity of giving to the enemies of the new order of things, employment at home, in order to prevent their interference abroad, was fatal to the beneficial results of the revolution. The rapid conquests achieved by Napoleon, drew the eyes and hearts of a people fond of glory, and full of a military spirit, from their internal affairs, to foreign conquests; and, while they were subduing a world, they were themselves subdued by the same power. Then came the empire of Napoleon; the confederacy of nations,--not merely of kings and their armies, but of nations, instigated partly by their own wrongs, and partly by the promises of their rulers, to rise in ma.s.s, and do what neither their kings nor their armies had been able to perform. It was the people of Europe that at length overthrew Napoleon.

When, after this great event, it became necessary to reorganize Europe, which had been cast from its ancient moorings, by the gigantic power, and gigantic mind of the child of democracy, who had devoured his mother, there arose a schism between the people and their sovereigns.

The former expected the fulfilment of those promises, which the latter had made in the hour of extreme peril, in order to rouse them to effectual resistance against the French. These promises in Germany, Prussia, the Netherlands, &c. consisted princ.i.p.ally in the establishment of representative governments, which would leave the sovereign in possession of a hereditary power, checked by a body elected by the people. On the other hand, the sovereigns, unmindful of the preservation of their thrones, which they owed to _the people_, refused to fulfil their solemn stipulations. In the hour of success, they as usual forgot the hour of adversity, and insisted upon the unconditional re-establishment, if not of old boundaries, at least of the old political regime. Hence we may trace the origin of what is called seriously by some, in derision and scorn by others, _the Holy Alliance_, which originated in the fears and the weakness of kings, who, being unable to maintain singly their antiquated pretensions at home, sought in a close union of policy and interests, the means of doing that, which each one alone was inadequate to achieve. By this alliance, Europe was dismembered--millions of acres, and millions of people, were parcelled out among the different sovereigns, and the balance of Europe was either believed, or affected to be believed, restored by placing whole nations under a dominion which they abhorred. It is obvious that such an unnatural state of things could endure only while cemented by a mutual fear of the powers which had const.i.tuted it; which fear would subside immediately, or very soon after the dissolution of the great confederacy. A large portion of Europe had been fermenting for nearly fifteen years, under the oppressions of this union of despots, and the moment of its separation, would naturally be that of the downfall of the system they had attempted to impose on mankind. But we are antic.i.p.ating our brief a.n.a.lysis of the work before us:--

"After twenty-three years of blood and revolution,"

continues the author, "Louis was again seated on the throne of his forefathers, and the principles of monarchy seemed firmly established in Europe. But the principle of government was in reality no longer the old one, and the spirit of the relation in which the ruled stood to the rulers, although it had not yet been brought to light in visible forms, and specified limits, was materially changed.

Mutual struggles of kings and their people against foreign aggression, and mutual sufferings in consequence of the division between the people and their rulers, the latter of whom owed esteem and acknowledgment for services rendered by the former, laid the foundation of a relation between them mutually more honourable. For centuries, indeed, the monarchs of Europe had not been identified and interwoven with their people; nor had they shared as now, the privations and humiliations, the domestic and public calamities, of the nations they governed; nor had they fought by their sides, and conquered by their efforts, as they had lately done in the late stormy period of the world."

Mutual suffering had taught them to feel a community of interests they had not before recognised. Calamity brings all ranks to a level, and the monarch exiled from his throne, can sympathise with the peasant driven from his hovel.

In this state of feelings, one would suppose Europe might have reposed in peace. But the elements of internal discord, lay buried deeply in her bosom, and the internal relations of the different powers had been so altered, as to present ample materials for dissension abroad. With the necessity of appealing to the patriotism of their people, by promises of privileges and immunities, expired the disposition to comply with them.

This breach of faith, produced on one hand indignation and discontent, on the other, jealousy and apprehension. The discontents of the people, caused their rulers to depend more on the support of their standing armies, than on the attachment of their subjects, and these armies were accordingly augmented to such an extent, that the unfortunate people were at length impoverished by the very means used in enslaving them. At this moment, nearly the whole of Europe, including the British islands, const.i.tutes a ma.s.s of military governments. Every where the civil power is inadequate to the preservation of order, the enforcement of obedience to the king and the laws, and every where a standing army under some form or other presides over the opinions and actions of the people.

Hence results the curious and ominous, not to say awful spectacle of the rights of property at the mercy of a mob; and on the other hand, the rights of person, the liberties of the citizen, subject to the arbitrary domination of the bayonet. At this moment, such is the state of every monarchy in Europe.

Such a juxtaposition of kings and their people, must of necessity alienate them from each other every day; and thus by degrees, the feeling of loyalty towards the one, and of parental affection towards the other, will be finally extinguished in mutual fears and mutual injuries, that will for ever disturb their repose, until the people are either perfectly satisfied, or totally subdued.

Another fruitful source of the discontents now agitating all Europe, is the state of the labouring cla.s.ses, not only manufacturing but agricultural. The means of producing the necessaries and luxuries of life have been multiplied by the increase of paper capital and artificial expedients, until the supply exceeds the demand, and the price of labour, even where labour can be procured, bears no proportion to the price of bread. During fifteen years of peace, America and Europe have augmented their powers of supplying their own wants and those of the rest of the world, by means of improvements in arts, sciences, machinery, &c., to an extent which cannot be estimated. The whole world is glutted with the products of machinery, and exactly in the proportion that these increase upon us, is the increase of the poverty of the labouring cla.s.ses. Millions of people in Europe, the largest proportion of whom are inhabitants of the richest country in the world, and one producing the greatest quant.i.ty of the results of industry, want bread, because they either have no employment, or their wages will not obtain it for them. Let political economists reason as they will, this is the state of the labouring cla.s.ses of Europe, and this state is aggravated precisely in the proportion that the facility of supplying the necessities and luxuries of life by artificial means is increased.

The cause of this singular state of things to us is sufficiently obvious. The powers of wealth, the force of example, opinion, authority, laws, of every concentrated influence that can be brought to bear upon human affairs, have, all combined, been directed to a reduction of the price of labour, and consequently to diminis.h.i.+ng the consumption of the products of human industry; for the great ma.s.s of mankind have nothing but the fruits of their labour to offer in exchange for those products which are necessary to their subsistence and comfort. In vain may it be urged, as we have seen it done repeatedly, and most especially in an address of a clergyman of England to the labouring cla.s.ses of that country--in vain may it be urged, that the decrease of the price of labour has been met by a corresponding decrease in the price of the necessaries of life, and that, therefore, the labouring cla.s.ses are no worse off, nay better off, than before the vast increase of machinery either threw them out of employment, or forced them to labour for almost nothing. This comfortable gentleman, who, we understand, has a good fat living, and will probably be made a bishop if he can only stop the mouths of the sufferers with reasons instead of bread, asks these poor people if they don't get their hats, shoes, &c. one half cheaper in consequence of the perfection of machinery, the improvements of the arts, &c. But he takes care not to ask them if the difficulty of earning this half price is not increased in a much greater proportion, in consequence of the diminution of their wages, and whether bread, meat, beer, and all the essentials of human existence, are not enhanced rather than diminished in price. We could ill.u.s.trate the theory of the reverend gentleman, by an honest matter of fact story, which we can vouch for, as it happened to a near relative of ours.

He had a gardener named Dennis, an honest fellow, full of simplicity, and a dear lover of Old Ireland, as all Irishmen are, at home or abroad.

One day he was dilating with much satisfaction on the difference between the price of potatoes in this country and Ireland. "In Ireland, your honour, now I could git more nor a barrel of potatoes for a pishtareen, but here it costs as much as a dollar and a half." The gentleman asked him good naturedly why he did not remain where potatoes were so cheap.

Dennis considered a moment, and answered with the characteristic frankness of his country--"why to tell your honour the honest truth, though the potatoes were so cheap, I never could get the pishtareen to buy them."

Here is the solution of the whole enigma. Every thing is cheap we will say; but labour, which is the only equivalent a large ma.s.s of mankind have to offer for every thing, is cheaper than all. Evident, as we think this will appear, still it seems to have no influence on those who govern mankind. And how should it? Their emoluments, their means of expenditure, are derived, not from their own physical labour, but the labours of others. The cheaper they can procure this, the deeper they can revel in luxuries. With them, the relative proportion between the remuneration of toil, and the means of living is nothing. Hence the rulers of nations, hence capitalists, and all the brood of monopolists, are stirring their energies abroad, to increase the supply of the products of labour, at the same time that they take from the labourer the due rewards of his labours, and thus prevent the consumption of the vast accession of manufactures, &c. occasioned by the increase and perfection of machinery. Inanimate powers are daily subst.i.tuted for human hands, and productions continue to multiply in an equal ratio.

This is a benefit to a single nation, while it possesses all the advantages of superiority, and is enabled to supply a portion of the rest of the world. But when other nations, as is the case now, adopt the same system, and avail themselves of the same means of supply, a glut takes place in the market, at home and abroad, and poverty and distress among the labourers are the inevitable consequence.

Such seem to us the princ.i.p.al elements of combustion now at work in Europe. Political disgust, and physical distresses are co-operating with each other, and in order to quiet these disturbances, it is not only necessary to give them more liberty, but more bread. But to return once more to the speculations of our author,--

"If we turn our view to the present state of agriculture,"

continues Dr. Von Schmidt, "in many countries of Europe, it will appear evident, that even the paternal soil in many districts, is becoming too confined to afford nourishment to those who have remained faithful to its bosom. If in the mountainous countries, as for example, in the west and south of France, on the Alps, and along the Rhine, every spot is occupied, and the very earth and manure have for centuries been carried aloft upon the naked rock attended with the most boundless labour, in order to furnish soil for the vine, the olive, and for the different species of cerelia, and at present no further room exists for a more extended cultivation; it is not possible for a more numerous growing generation to find nourishment in these districts, whose productions are not susceptible of increasing progression.

The too frequent practice of parcelling out common lands, and large estates, originally beneficial in itself, has produced similar consequences in other states. It was undoubtedly a wise and humane plan to transform commons, and extensive pastures into fruitful fields, and by dividing large estates which their owners could not overlook, into smaller lots, thus ensure more abundant crops, and an increasing population, by a more careful cultivation. But if, as is the case at the present day, in many places, useful lands have been split into so many small independent possessions, as to render it hardly possible for families occupying them, to subsist in the most penurious manner, by cultivating them; whence, then, is sustenance to be obtained for their more numerous posterity, and from what source is the state to derive its taxes? It is evident, that this condition of things must lead to the most poignant distress, and that a breadless mult.i.tude, either driven by irretrievable debts from their paternal huts, or voluntarily forsaking them on account of an inadequate maintenance, will turn their backs upon their country; and it may be considered a fortunate resource if they, as has frequently occurred in later times, carry with them the vigour of their strength to the free states of America, which stand in need of no one thing but human hands, to raise them to the highest degree of prosperity. Those governments in which such an unnatural distension of the state of society prevails, ought not, most a.s.suredly, for their own advantage, and for the sake of humanity, by any means to throw obstacles in the way, but rather favour such emigration, and render it easy and consolatory for all, since they have it not in their power to offer a better remedy for their present misery. By doing this, they will prevent dangerous ebullitions and unruly disaffections of a distressed and overgrown population; they will lighten the number of poor which is increasing to a most alarming extent, and put an end to that angry state of abjectness and misery which is felt by every honest heart, and under which thousands have sunk down, who, with numerous families in hovels of wretchedness, prolong their existence upon more scanty means than the most common domestic animals, and who appear only to be gifted with reason in order to be more sensible to their forlorn and pitiable fate."

From the foregoing premises, the author deduces the conclusion, that the free states of North America will increase in population more rapidly than any other country has ever done, partly from emigration, and partly from the unequalled facility of obtaining the comforts of life, by which the numbers of mankind are regulated. The people, equally free from political oppression, and the evils of abject poverty, such as scanty nourishment, and crowded habitations, will at first make a rapid progress in the useful, and subsequently, in the elegant arts, and more abstract sciences. The freedom of their inst.i.tutions will continually offer every stimulus to the development of the features of independence, and animate that spirit of intelligence, which always increases in proportion to the freedom with which the human faculties are exercised.

Thence he proceeds to the supposition, that the states of South America having attained to independence, will establish const.i.tutional governments similar to those of the North, whose example first stimulated them to resistance to the mother country,--that this similarity will naturally produce a close union of interest and policy among all the states of the Western Continent, and that such a union will give a death blow to the colonial system of Europe, at no distant period.

The discovery and colonization of America, led to consequences which re-modelled all Europe; and her emanc.i.p.ation from European thraldom will, in like manner, force upon that portion of the world a new state of things. _Europe, in her present situation, cannot do without America,--while, on the other hand, America has no occasion for Europe._ America can, and will, therefore, become independent of Europe; but, in the present state of things, Europe cannot become independent of America. That almost universal empire which Europe attained by the superiority of her intelligence,--by the tribute she exacted from every other quarter of the globe, and by the superiority of her skill as well as of her industry, cannot be sustained for a much longer period.

Wrapped up in a sense of his superiority, the European reclines at home, s.h.i.+ning in his borrowed plumes, derived from the product of every corner of the earth, and the industry of every portion of its inhabitants, with which his own natural resources would never have invested him, he continues, as the author observes, revelling in enjoyments which nature has denied him;--accustomed from his most tender years, to wants which all the blessings and donations of the land and the ocean, produced within the compa.s.s of his own quarter of the globe, are unable to satisfy. While, therefore, the rest of the world has become tributary to him, he, in return, has become dependent on it, by those wants,--the supply of which, custom and education have made indispensably necessary.

America alone furnishes in a sufficient quant.i.ty those precious metals, which const.i.tute the basis on which the existing relations of all the different cla.s.ses of society, and indeed the whole concatenation of the civil inst.i.tutions of society in general, have been formed, and retained to the present time. All the elements of modern splendour were derived from her,--and it was her gifts to Europe, which changed almost all the const.i.tuents of social life. The costly woods of the new world, banished the native products of the old;--her cochineal and indigo furnish the choicest materials for the richest dyes;--her rice is become an article of cheap and general nourishment to the European world;--her cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugar, mola.s.ses, cocoa and rum;--her numerous and valuable drugs;--her diamonds and precious stones;--her furs, and, in time of scarcity, the rich redundant stores of grain she pours forth from her bosom, const.i.tute so large a portion of the wants and luxuries of Europe, that it is not too much to say, the latter is in a great measure dependent upon America. A great portion of these cannot be domesticated in the former, or produced in such quant.i.ties, as to supply the demand which custom has made indispensable, nor upon such terms, as would enable the people of Europe to indulge in their consumption. On the contrary, experience has demonstrated, that all the natural productions of Europe, its olives, and even its boasted vines, can be naturalized in some one of the various regions of this quarter of the globe, which comprehends in itself every climate and every soil. There is not the least doubt, that, when the habits of the people, or the interests of the country point to such a course, all these will be produced in sufficient quant.i.ties, not only for domestic use, but foreign exportation.

America, thus standing in need of none of the natural productions of Europe, and possessing within herself much more numerous, as well as precious gifts of nature, than any other quarter of the globe, will soon be able to dispense with the products of foreign industry. Whenever she can command the necessary stock of knowledge, and a sufficient number of industrious hands, which emigration, aided by her own increasing population, will soon place at her disposal, this will inevitably take place. Where there exist materials, and understanding to use them, the freedom of using them at pleasure, and security in the enjoyment of the fruits of labour, the spirit of enterprise is inevitably awakened into life and activity, and with it must flourish every species of industry:--

"North America," observes the author, "at the commencement of her revolution, found herself nearly dest.i.tute of all mechanical resources and means of resistance,--whereas now she possesses fortifications, and plenty of military supplies of all kinds, with the means of multiplying them, as occasion may require. She has already formed an efficient, spirited and increasing navy, which will before long dispute the empire of the seas; she is complete mistress of the several branches of knowledge, and contains within herself all the mechanical inst.i.tutions requisite for the increase and maintenance of these things. She can equip an army or a navy, without a resort to Europe, for the most insignificant article."

The author then goes on to express an opinion that the complete emanc.i.p.ation of South America, which he antic.i.p.ates as soon to happen, will lead to similar results, in that portion of the continent, and produce an entire and final independence, political as well as commercial. He does not pretend to designate the precise period in which this will take place, but confines himself to the a.s.sertion, that in the natural and inevitable course of things, it must and will happen, after a determined opposition from European jealousy.

An inquiry is then commenced, into the possibility that Europe will be enabled to supply the loss of America, by means of new connexions with the other quarters of the globe. If she cannot procure a new market for her surplus manufactures, how is she to acquire the means of purchasing those productions of the new world, which have become indispensable to her existence, in the sphere she has. .h.i.therto occupied? To do this she must not only retain in their fullest extent, all the remaining branches of her commerce, but obtain others, by entering into new connexions with Asia and Africa, and colonizing new regions. To do this, not only does the necessary energy seem wanting, but Europe will have to encounter the compet.i.tion of America, with all our unequalled celerity of enterprise, and all our rapidly increasing powers of compet.i.tion. She is much more likely to lose her remaining colonies than to acquire new ones; and it approaches to an extreme degree of probability, that she will be driven from many of her accustomed branches of commerce, by the superior energy and enterprise of America, rather than obtain new marts for her manufactures. Already the North American cottons are finding their way to India, and banis.h.i.+ng the productions of the British looms from the markets of the southern portion of this continent. The trade to China is already a.s.suming an entire new character, and will probably before long be carried on without the instrumentality of Spanish dollars.

We think the positions of our author are eminently ent.i.tled to consideration. The situation of a part of the continent of America, south of the Isthmus of Darien, is much more favourable to a commercial intercourse with Asia, western Africa, than that of Europe. The coast of Guinea can be much more easily visited from Caraccas, Cayenne, and Surinam, than from any portion of Europe; and the Cape of Good Hope, lying directly to the east of the great river La Plata, is much better adapted to an intercourse with Rio Janeiro, and Buenos Ayres, than any of the Dutch or English colonies. The Isles of France, Bourbon, and Madagascar, situated between the Cape of Good Hope, and the eastern coast of Africa, are much more suited to a communication with the new states of South America, than with the mother countries. Such is the case with the Philippine islands, New-Holland, the Marquesas, the Friendly and Society islands. The geographical relations between all these, and different portions of South America, sufficiently indicate that when the reins shall have fallen from the hands of Europe, the intercourse will in a great measure change its course, and centre in the new instead of the old world.

The principle, we are aware, has been a.s.sumed, that whatever state supports the most powerful navy for the protection of its commerce, will always take the lead. But it hardly now remains a question, whether the states of the new world will not be able ere long, to direct trade into the free channel which nature herself seems to point out for all nations, but which the exorbitant naval power of one has forced into artificial and circuitous directions.

Europe will not for ever be able to wield the trident of the seas, nor sway the sceptre of intellectual superiority. There is a time for all things. There was a time when she borrowed her arts, her literature, her refinements, and her civilization, from Asia. These are for ever pa.s.sing from one nation, and from one continent to another. The descendents of Europeans in the new world, have not degenerated, and possessing as they do as many advantages of situation as were ever enjoyed by any people under the sun, with as great a field for their exercise as was ever presented for human action, it would be departing from the natural order of things, and the ordinary operations of the great scheme of Providence; it would be shutting our ears to the voice of experience, and our eyes to the inevitable connexion of causes and their effects, were we to reject the extreme probability, not to say moral certainty, that the old world is destined to receive its impulses in future, from the new. Already we see the bright dawnings of this new relation, in the universal diffusion of the spirit of emanc.i.p.ation, first sought in the wilds of America. It was there that was first lighted that spark which is now animating and stimulating the nations of the old world to become free and happy like ourselves. The unshackled genius of the new world is now exerting itself with gigantic vigour, aided by the infinite treasures of nature, to strengthen its powers, increase its commerce, its resources, and its wealth. No other quarter of the globe, much less a single nation, will eventually be able to dispute the empire of the seas, with the new world.

We shall devote the remainder of this article to a consideration of events which have occurred in Europe since the publication of the work before us, which richly merits a better translation, as well as a republication in this country. This course is necessary to our purpose, although it is our humble opinion, that the writers and publications of this country, give a disproportionate attention to the affairs of other people, and of consequence, neglect our own. Let us look to ourselves; preserve the purity of the national manners and inst.i.tutions--foster our natural and accidental advantages, and observe, and gather lessons of wisdom as well as moderation from the folly and excesses of rulers and people in the old superannuated world. Above all, let us ever bear in mind and continue to act upon the sentiment of Daniel Webster, and be careful that "_while other nations are moulding their governments after ours, we do not break the pattern_."

The present state of Europe, we think, offers additional probabilities to the theory laid down in the work of the Danish philosopher. Two great principles are now approaching to a struggle, which will, in all human probability, ere long, produce not only wars, but the worst of wars, internal dissensions, aggravated by external struggles with foreign powers. Although the principle of emanc.i.p.ation is common to the revolution of America, and the revolutionary spirit now at work in Europe, all other circ.u.mstances are essentially different. With us, it was throwing off a dominion seated at a vast distance beyond the seas, and only known among us by its representatives. In Europe, on the contrary, it is a central power existing in the heart, and pervading every portion of the body politic. A revolution then, must overturn thrones, church establishments, standing armies, hereditary orders, and prejudices hallowed by ages of reverence and submission. The whole frame and organization of society must be dissolved, changed into new elements, and be arranged into new forms.

The enemies of _statu quo_, and the genius of change, are now arraying their respective powers, and in proportion as the people have been debarred from all partic.i.p.ation in the government, will be their ardour to govern without controul. Such a struggle cannot end in a day, or in a year,--nor will it be decided in all probability, except through a long series of gradations, which will finally rest at last on a basis suitable to the present state of the human mind. We cannot, therefore, but antic.i.p.ate heavy times for Europe. A long course of internal and external wars, is fatal to the great interests of a state. Commerce decays, and seeks other more peaceful climes--agriculture is robbed of its labourers, and of the products of labour, to recruit and feed the armies,--and manufacturers are deprived of their foreign purchasers. The powers of the intellect, too, are diverted from the pursuits of science and literature, into the b.l.o.o.d.y paths of warfare,--and thus it has ever happened, that a long continuance of national struggles, produces a neglect of the arts of peace, and an approach to barbarism.

Insecurity of property is one of the inevitable consequences of civil wars. The products of the land are the common stock of plunder for both parties, and the land itself becomes a prey to confiscation. At this day, a vast portion of the wealth of Europe is vested in stocks, which are still more fatally operated upon by civil wars. Their value, in fact, becomes, in such a state of things, merely nominal; and it depends upon the success of one or other of the parties in the struggle, whether they again attain to their original prices, or become worthless. Such a crisis seems fast approaching in Europe. When once the conflicting elements of anarchy and despotism commence their warfare, who shall say where and when it will end? Prophecy, in this case, would be presumption,--when it does end, the result will be equally uncertain.

Whether a chastened freedom, guarantied by a fair representation of the people in the governments, a despotism without limits, or an anarchy without controul, is beyond the reach of human foresight to predict.

One thing, however, we think, is certain. This unsettled state of life, liberty and property, in Europe, will produce a vast accession of wealth and population in the new world, and accelerate its progress to the sceptre of intellect and power, hitherto, for so long a time, wielded by the old. The neighbouring nations of Europe, being all nearly in the same state of internal insecurity, afford no safe refuge to fugitives or property, from each other--even if their national antipathies did not present a barrier to emigration. The United States, on the contrary, with nothing to disturb their tranquillity, but the peaceable struggles of an election, and stretching out a hand of welcome to all nations, and all ranks of mankind, from the exiled monarch to the mechanic or peasant, coming in search of employment and bread, will present a safe deposit for the wealth of Europe,--a sanctuary where the persecuted, the hara.s.sed, and the timid spirit, may find repose from the storms that vex his native land.

Thus, to our native energy, intelligence, and resources, will be added a large portion of those of the other quarter of the world, and the united result, in all human probability, _must_ be the fulfilment of the great prophecy, that the empire of the world was travelling towards the setting sun. The sceptre will depart from the east, and be wielded by the west. Power, dominion, science, literature, and the arts, hitherto the satellites of despotism, will become the bright and beautiful handmaids of a brighter G.o.ddess than themselves, and the glory of Europe, like that of Asia, be preserved in her history and her traditions.

The antic.i.p.ation is as rational as glorious to an American. Look at the state of Europe once more, and separate it into its const.i.tuent parts.

Let us begin with France. What has she gained by her revolution of July but a branch of the same tree, in the room of the rotten trunk? Has she won freedom or repose? Not even the freedom of complaint,--nor any other repose, but the repose of the National Guards. What is the cry of the people of Paris? Not liberty alone, but "give us employment and bread."

Thus irritated by a feeling of disappointment on one hand, and goaded on by hunger, can they stop where they are? Certainly not; it is not in the nature of man, nor the nature of things. Two such impulses can only be satisfied by the grant of their demands, and only quelled by force.

Look at the great rival of France on the opposite side of the channel.

The same mighty evils are at work there--discontent aggravated by hunger. At the moment we are writing, a question is depending in the Parliament of England, which agitates the island to its centre, and the decision of which, either one way or other, is acknowledged by both parties to amount to the signal of a revolution. The opponents of the Bill of Reform maintain, that, if carried, it will destroy the basis of the government; and the advocates a.s.sert, that, if not carried, it will produce a revolution, originating in the disappointment and indignation of the people.

Will the aristocracy of England--the most wealthy and powerful aristocracy in the world--voluntarily, and without a mighty struggle, divest themselves of one of their chief sources of power in the state.

Will they sacrifice their parliamentary influence, which const.i.tutes one of the regular modes and means of providing for younger sons and poor relations? Nay, which enables them to dictate to their sovereign? We believe not. Will the people remain quiet under the disappointment of their newborn hopes, aggravated as it will be by poverty and distress, among so large a number? Perhaps they will, so long as there is an army of sixty or eighty thousand men, disposed so happily for the protection of order in the _United_ Kingdom, that every breath of discontent is met by a bayonet. But let the monarchs who maintain _order_ in Europe, by means of standing armies, recollect the lesson of history, which teaches us, that throughout all ages, and countries, the power which sustained the throne by force, in the end by force overthrew it. There is but one solid permanent support of power, and that is, the attachment of the people.

In the present state of Europe, we incline to the opinion that the safest course for kings to take, would be to identify themselves with the people, and become the organs of their wishes. We see no other means for the present King of England to make head successfully against the weight of the opposition of the church and n.o.bility, in case he decisively sustains the present ministry in their plans of parliamentary reform, than to make common cause with his people, and say to them honestly, "I have become your champion, do you become my supporters."

The government of England is acknowledged on all hands to be a mixed government of king, lords, and commons. Who represents the commons of England? The House of Commons. But can it do this effectually, while a large portion of the members are returned by the House of Lords? We should think not. The spirit and purity of the system can only be preserved by the commons, and the commons alone, selecting their representatives in their own house, and not the n.o.bility. Does the House of Commons interfere in the same way in the creation of the members of the House of Lords? They have no voice or influence in the business.

Why, then, should the House of Lords interfere in the election, or appointment rather, of the members of the House of Commons? In this point of view, therefore, we can perceive no sort of foundation for the argument of the opponents of reform, that the measure will operate to destroy the balance of the government. We rather think it will restore the balance, and bring it back to the true old theory of three distinct powers--king, lords, and commons.

We believe that the people will be satisfied with this reform for a time, if it take place. When they shall see, as no doubt they will see, that the burthens of the state, and consequently their own, remain the same, or perhaps increase with the increase of those who require relief, and the decrease of those who are able to bestow it; when they shall find that a reform in Parliament will not give them liberal wages, or feed their suffering families, then will they become more dissatisfied than ever. Then, too, will the result disclose where the shoe of reform pinched the opponents of reform. The increased representation of the people will then enable the people to _make_ themselves heard and felt, and to force the government into measures that may indeed destroy the const.i.tution of England, if there be any such invisible being. Whichever way we look, therefore, we perceive the same causes of discontent, the same spirit of emanc.i.p.ation at work, that agitates the continent of Europe; and so long as this state of things continues, it requires no spirit of prophecy to predict, that England, so far from advancing in power or intelligence, will, in all probability, invincibly slide from the summit of power, and become the victim of internal weakness at last.

The state of Holland and Belgium, of Italy and Germany, and Russia and Prussia, and Spain and Poland, is still more unfavourable to arts, science, commerce, literature, and agriculture. The rulers are employed in schemes for keeping the people in subjugation, and the people in wresting the promised privileges from their rulers. In such a state of things, the one party has no time to devise schemes for enriching or enlightening the people, but is employed, on the contrary, in placing them, as far as possible, in ignorance and poverty. The other is so taken up with politics, that its habits of economy, steadiness, and enterprise, are forgotten by degrees in the whirlpool of turbulent excitement. Each and all of these countries, with the exception perhaps of Russia, instead of advancing, will gradually recede in wealth and intelligence, not only from internal dissensions, but on account of the large portion of both, that will from time to time, as long as this state of things shall last, direct its course to the new world.

The change from old to new times; from the inapplicable maxims of the past, to the practical truths of the present, has, every where, and in all past ages, been a period of suffering to the human race. The approaches to this state of regeneration, are marked by turbulent disaffection on one hand, inflexible severity on the other; its progress is marked by the dissolution of the social ties, and its crisis with blood and tears. The people have to encounter the most formidable difficulties, under which they probably sink many times, before they rise at last and make the great successive effort. These evils are aggravated and perpetuated as long as possible, by the stern inflexible rigidity of old-established inst.i.tutions, worthless in proportion to their obstinacy, aided by the blind besotted pride of kings, who seem never to have learnt the lesson of yielding to the changes produced by time and circ.u.mstance, and sacrificing gracefully, what will otherwise be taken from them by force.