AND FAMILY LYCEUM. MARCH 1, 1834. [Furnished for the Scientific Tracts and Family Lyceum.] PRUSSIA:-ITS POSITION AND DESTINY. BY N. H. LORING. THERE was nothing of the ideal and romantic in the character of Frederic the Great; nor is the nation fashioned and established by him, other than a mighty illustration of the severe and sinewy sagacity of his mind. The unique and awful tragedies which the French revolution introduced, one after another with startling rapidity, to the historic inquirer at the close of the reign of Frederic; and the dazzling and astounding career of another conqueror which succeeded, tended to deprive his character and polity of that consideration and investigation to which they were entitled, and which, at perhaps any other period, they would have received. The effects which might reasonably have been anticipated from them, upon the international and social policy of the European states, were, it is probable, greatly modified, and in some respects frustrated, by the extraordinary events alluded to, which shook the oldest thrones, and affected, either for good or for evil, the most stable institutions. Yet neither the intellectual reign of this rare king, nor the character, compact, capacious, and acquisitive, which the Prussian people derived from his plastic hand, was of a kind to lose its potency from a brief transit of the sabre-rule of Napoleon. Still less, to have its moral influence expire during the years of cruel and imbecile misrule in Europe, which have since elapsed. Why should not that potency-that influence-have been annihilated? This question it is proposed to answer—not directly, but conclusively, in the reflections which are to follow. New alliances, new combinations, have been formed since the days of Frederic. The relative positions of states have changed: the Family Compact' is extinct : France and the second grade of German states have liberalized their institutions: the Germanic empire is dissolved: the English nation is no longer governed by the tyrannic temper and obtuse minds of Hanoverian blockheads: the 'STAR of the House of Austria' is not now the bugbear to frighten feeble-minded ministers into wars, and a feeblehearted people into subsidies. All is changed-changing. All-except the creation of Frederic-the great offspring of a great conception, which has in no wise altered, excepting in additional firmness of muscle, consolidation of texture, expansion of stature, and general vigor of frame: there it is, standing in the centre of Europe, a young, clean-limbed, and fearless giant; offering, in reality, that barrier which Poland was once, poetically, supposed to form to the half-civilized Russians. On the other side, it can and will awe those propagandists, who, if they renew their excesses in the name of Liberty, must retard, more than anything else can, the march of Europe to general civilization and freedom. To all the world, it is an illustrious demonstration, that in despite of a generally poor and sterile soil; an inhospitable climate; disconnected and very irregularly shaped territories; without natural boundaries; and with little of the wealth that springs from commerce; it is possible for a nation by its frugality, its industry, its devotion, throughout all grades and classes, to every description of intellectual improvement, and animated by a fervid and indefeasible patriotism, to enjoy, even under the rule of an absolute monarch, a greater portion of personal freedom, domestic happiness, and true civilization, than ever has been realized under what are termed the free governments of ancient and modern Europe. The foregoing assertion, which is intended to be deliberately and perspicuously made, is not a paradox. It may amaze those who yield an unsuspecting confidence to the newspaper literature of London and Paris; who profess to believe the trashy and inconclusive eloquence of the French deputies; and think, that on the barbarous strength of Eastern, and the noisy but insecure freedom of Western Europe, the destiny of that quarter of the world is dependant. It may, likewise, be somewhat unpalatable to all those inflammable spirits who discourse in heroics upon liberty, and incessantly utter oracular common-places about the free nations of antiquity, as if anything like a rational and orderly freedom, either physical or mental, ever had existence in the little anarchies of Greece, or the bandit commonwealth of Rome. And here it may be well enough to remark, that good taste and truth alike disown the comparisons, so frequently instituted, of the American people with those ancient communities. It is a lamentable truth, that through many past ages the youthful mind has been sedulously imbued with the scholastic jargon of Grecian and Roman liberty; but it is equally indubitable, that an attempt to impose any such sort of liberty upon this people, either previously or subsequently to the fight of Bunker Hill, would have been met by them with a resistance as prompt and steady as that which resulted in our independence. Liberty, indeed!-the liberty of having one's throat cut, and of the ostracism! Yet, as a frame of government, the absolute sway of Prussia is not to be preferred to the limited monarchies in its neighborhood. The mere fact of the superior intelligence and prosperity of its inhabitants, proves the wisdom and benevolence of its rulers, but is not an argument for an autocratical government. It may, however, be justly affirmed, that the maintenance of free principles, and their ultimate establishment, even to the banks of the Vistula, do not solely depend upon the British and French monarchies, more free as they nevertheless are, in theory at least, than either of the other European powers. It is in vain for philanthropy and poesy to call upon statesmen who are entrusted with the interests of nations, to embark in magnanimous projects for the welfare of the human race. The fanaticism which led the rugged hosts of Latin Europe to desert their families and homes, and perish for a supposed religious duty amidst the sands of Syria, cannot now be excited in the bosoms of their descendants, either by the incentives of glory, of philanthropy, or of religion. Cervantes, by his inimitable ridicule, demolished individual knight errantry, even in his day, and mankind have acquired, by bitter toil in the rocky field of experience, too much good sense to revive, at this period, the Quixotism of nations. No: foreign force cannot render a nation free; nor in the view of reason and reason's God, is that ruler guiltless, who leads the nation allotted to his guidance, into the perils and disasters of war, for the dubious purpose of emancipating a stranger people. If he were, where would be the limit of his interference? A cause of war would always be ready to justify aggression, and that, forsooth, in the name of humanity! The principle of non-intervention in the internal concerns of nations must be sustained, or the zealots for creeds and reforms of every description will substitute for the social system, an unceasing anarchy, and legalize interminable war. Interest, good sense, and humanity will, notwithstanding, leave the tribe of enthusiasts to the harmless pursuit of their dreams and rhapsodies. But there are other, and, of themselves, sufficient causes, why Great Britain and France will not summon the nations to a crusade of emancipation. Can they? The national debt of the British Government, alleged during the prodigal sway of Pitt, to be the strongest assurance of its stability, may have tended to bind its institutions together up to this time, but if augmented by another general war, will, in all probability, crush, under its colossal weight, that which it is expected to preserve. With respect to this debt, we must reason from probabilities, for there is no experience in history. It is true that the embarrassed state of the finances was one of the most obvious and readily managed reasons for the French revolution; but it was, probably, not of itself adequate to the production of that event, because it was by no means beyond the actual capacity of the nation to discharge. The other and more degrading grievances, which had for ages been inflicted upon a great people by its criminal and profligate nobility and clergy, were alone sufficient to cause, if not to justify, even the excesses of Robespierre. But the passions of the British people are not so easily inflamed as those of the French, nor are they so quickly allayed; and it may therefore require the lavish expenditure of an unnecessary war, to goad them into actual rebellion. Rebellion is however feared, and will, if it can, be avoided : for every one is sensible, that if it does come, it will not be a brilliant and momentary conflagration, but an intense, purifying, and irresistible fire. The interest of the debt is to be paid, or the sponge must be applied to the principal. The yearly expenses of government are enormous in time of peace, and with the interest of the debt, render the taxes, if we may believe intelligent men of all parties, quite as great as the nation can well pay. Already some of the radicals suggest the scheme which was in the mouth of every one at the commencement of the French revolution, (and was subsequently carried to a certain extent into effect,) of declaring a national bankruptcy. The consequences of such an event can scarcely be conjectured. If the taxes are now so onerous; if such a procedure is now gloomily brooded over and indistinctly hinted at, by a brave, sedate and loyal people, what may not be expected in the shape of an appalling and overwhelming revolution, when in the midst of their bitter and hopeless penury, they are required by a Quixotic ministry, to pay additional millions for the purpose of raising the lazy Italians, the timid Belgians, or the priest-ridden Spaniards, to a state of freedom which they are unable, by education and habit, either to comprehend or to enjoy? Will not reflections such as these restrain the inclinations of the most reckless ministry that could be formed? Would not even the radicals-the Cobbetts, the Hunts, the Humes, should they possibly be placed in office, even if they were inclined to indulge a vague and restless enthusiasm, find themselves com |