Topit of the Month. 



358 



It will be borne in mind, that it was 

 not long; after visiting (his country, 

 and being: astonished at tlie comforts 

 in which its inhabitants lived, that the 

 iioly Alliance was formed. It is said, 

 that when the bears of the Arctic seas 

 have once tasted human flesh, there is 

 no bringjing them back to their lirst 

 Jove of kreng and seal-bhibber ; and in 

 like manner it may be, thai, after the 

 bears of the Arctic hind once tasted 

 the roast beef of old England, they 

 may have abated a little their love of 

 kou7niss and sturgeon. But, whatever 

 may be the theory upon the subject, 

 the fact is certain, that no sooner had 

 we, by our blood and our treasure, 

 given stability to the rocking thrones 

 of these august personages, than they 

 seem to ha\e knocked their royal and 

 imperial heads together for the express 

 purpose of preventing any government 

 like ours from being established on the 

 Continent. 'J'he result of the French 

 revolution had sickened the nations of 

 more fanciful forms; and the riches 

 and moral power of our people had 

 made the people of other nations 

 anxicMis for some such government as 

 ours; and, while the ferment remained, 

 some promises had to be made. No 

 sooner, however, had the tingling of 

 the imperial carcasses which had been 

 produced by Napoleon sHl)si(led, than 

 the shackles were muffled up by holy 

 priests, and slipt upon the nations un- 

 der the specious pretext of upholding 

 the altars of the Lord against infidelity. 

 Almost contemporaneously, an effort 

 was made to destroy, or at least to pa- 

 ralyse, the intelligence of the Conti- 

 nent. The gratifications of despotism 

 and tyranny are all of the animal kind, 

 and therefore no science is required 

 for them. The banquets of the tiger 

 and the hyena are always made in the 

 dark or the desert; and therefore there 

 was a general discouragement of the 

 circulation of intelligence. 



To those who have not accustomed 

 themselves to the study of govern- 

 ments, all this duplicity and love of 

 darkness may appear to be without 

 meaning. Such, however, is not the 

 case; for, though it is a desperate 

 course, it is the only course by which 

 despotism can at the present day hope 

 to continue its powers. The American 

 war, which without doubt gave the 

 original impulse that brought about 

 the Frei!?'i revolution, and all its con- 

 .sequences, was one in which the prin- 

 ciples of British liberty were brought 

 mor« closely home to the continental 



\3itne 1, 



nations than in any anterior; and the 

 war of the revolution itself, as well as 

 the other wars which grew out of it, 

 gave strength and clearness to this 

 knowledge. The form of freedom 

 which it presents is more durable than 

 showy ; and hence there is little doubt 

 that, if it were once enjoyed by two 

 or three considerable states on the 

 Continent, it would suon extend to all 

 the rest. In consequence of this, it 

 follows necessarily, that the despots 

 should try to lop off every branch 

 which extends to the Continent. But, 

 while tliey are so ready to lop ofl' the 

 branches, is it in the nature of things 

 that they can ever tolerate the tree? 

 Certainly not. While Britain stands 

 the model after which liberal govern- 

 ments may be copied, there is not a 

 despot who feels himself safe ; and 

 therefore there is not the least doubt 

 that that Tuiholy combination, which 

 crushed the liberty of Naples in the 

 embryo bud, and which is now attempt- 

 ing to crush that of Spain in the ear- 

 liest blossom, would, after the liberties 

 of the Continent were wholly extinct, 

 come, without being very chary as to 

 a pretext, to extinguish that of Britain 

 also. The time and the circumstances 

 of their league show that this is 

 no visionary hypothesis; and every 

 movement which they have since 

 made is a step toward the final demon- 

 stration. It is this which makes the 

 French crusade against Spain so much 

 a British question ; and, though there 

 does not at present appear to be any 

 reasonable pretext for our actually 

 going to war with the despots, yet 

 this ought to have made us a little 

 more firm, and a little more dexterous, 

 than, from the information laid before 

 Parliament, we appear to have been. 

 From Lord Liverpool's answers to the 

 questions of Earl Grey, it does appear 

 that we knew before-hand that the 

 cabal at Verona was to discuss the 

 internal affairs of Spain, only we did 

 not think that the discussion of these 

 affairs was to be so "prominent." But, 

 if we had even a surmise that any thing 

 of this kind was to be discussed, we 

 should have taken care to know to 

 what extent, ere we attended the 

 cabal; and, having been so informed, 

 and so atten<ling, our opposition should 

 have been as " prominent" as the zeal 

 of the others to interfere. For want 

 of this prominence of opposition, the 

 whole of our power,— which, consi- 

 dering what we have done for their 

 imperial and rojal majesties, ought to 



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