2-14 Europe, and the British Parliament. [MARCH, 



blow as severe might be struck against this country in the Baltic, the 

 Black Sea, or in the Mediterranean, as in the Channel. 



For these reasons, and many others, any attack by Russia on France, 

 unless occasioned by the clearest necessity, must arm England on the 

 side of her neighbour; and this is well known by the French Cabinet. 

 The natural conclusion is, that not fear, but ambition, is arming France ; 

 and that not ambition, but fear, is arming the continental powers. 



The French ministry, people, and king, are curiously at variance in 

 their declared opinions of the course to be pursued in the present junc- 

 ture. The king is all for peace ; he declares that France desires nothing 

 but good fellowship with all the world, and even requires peace for her 

 commerce, institutions, and freedom. The ministry verge a little more 

 into the old French style, and while they deny all idea of aggression, pro- 

 mulgate to the world that they have an army of half a million ready for 

 any service. The people leave both king and ministry behind, and declare 

 that France is not merely able to make a stand against all the world, 

 but to resume her old place at its head. The popular cry of France is 

 for an advance to the Rhine. There is not a coffee-house waiter in Paris 

 who does not consider himself wronged of his proper glory while France 

 is restricted within the bounds of the old monarchy. The possession of 

 Belgium is dear to the souls of politicians who are not worth a sou; 

 and the prospect of conquering the Prussian and Dutch provinces dis- 

 turbs the dreams of patriots who, on rising at morn, are unconscious 

 where they are to find a meal for the day, or a bed for the night. 



The opinions of those classes of legislators in England, would be of" 

 no very serious consequence ; and we might leave them to evaporate at 

 the hustings, or in New South Wales, where so much premature 

 patriotism has found its natural retreat. But, in France, the colour of 

 affairs is different. The legislators are the multitude ; and what is once 

 the will of the populace must soon be the act of the nation. Brussels has 

 chosen the Duke de Nemours for its king. Louis-Philippe has distinctly 

 refused his consent to this arrangement. The allies have expressed the 

 strongest determination on the subject, and are said to have even threat- 

 ened to withdraw their ambassadors, if the duke should be suffered to 

 avail himself of the election. Yet with what feelings will the French 

 people see this chance of laying hold of Belgium escaping from their 

 hands ? But a new candidate is started, in the person of the son of the 

 King of Naples. Is he less obnoxious than the Duke de Nemours ? 

 If the one be the son of the French, king, the other is the nephew of the 

 French queen. But whoever may be the future sovereign, the question 

 is much less of the person than of the power. If he be any one of the 

 royal youths already proposed, his kingdom must be built on a founda- 

 tion of sand. In the first place, he will have to make head against the 

 factions in Belgium, which are bitter, and inflamed to a degree unequal- 

 led in any other part of Europe a tolerable task for a boy of sixteen, 

 whether bred up in the dancing court of the Tuileries, or in the opera- 

 hunting, lazy, and licentious court of Naples. Of course, he will be 

 involved in perplexities in the first month, which it may take his life to 

 unwind. 



But if he were a Solomon, what is to protect a little strip of territory, 

 lying open to England, France, and Prussia, from being torn in pieces 

 on the very first collision of the great powers. England could throw 

 an army into it within a month, Prussia within a week, and France 



