THE STATE OF EUROPE.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 129, 30 March 1881, Page 2

THE STATE OF EUROPE.

Onb of the latest cablegrams states that the policy of the new Czar, Alexander 111., is to be one of peace. Whatever satisfaction such an announcement may give to foreign Powers, we are very much afraid it. will not have the effect of placating bia own unruly people, and is more likely to prove a nail m his coffin than a safe-guard to his throne. It may be recollected that thit was one of the strongest indictments against the late Emperor, for no sooner had he bade adieu to bis military aspirations and quietly settled down to the enjoyment of domestic felicity than he became obnoxious to his people, and a crusade against his life was commenced, which only ended m his disastrous death. The Emperor, Napoleon, was also made a victim to this unrest of his people, and m declaring war against the King of Prussia, he was only choosing between a conflict with a rival Power abroad, and a struggle with bis own people at home. It is stated that the new Emperor is by no means friendly disposed toward his Germanic Majesty, and that very little would cause a rupture between the two nations, and should the Czar be forced by the war party to take up the sword, we imagine very little cause would be found sufficient to put the wish into effect "Viewing the political horizon of Europe it seems surcharged with danger and destruction, infidelity is on the increase, Christian France is now nothing more than a nation of Atbei-ts, and uulcs3 the various Powers join together m crushing socialism, it will result m deluging the vhole of Europe m blood. That such an assertion is only too tiueis apparent from the repeated | attempts which have been made upon the I lives of the various crowned heads, and I the most startling circumstance m coni nection with such crimes has been the fact that the outrages appear to have been the outcome of secret organisations aimed at the safety of the holders of regal power, rather than acts of vengeance or retribution for individual shortcomings. The old traditionary maxim of there being a divinity hedging m a King has long been an exploded falacy ; for instead of the Roynl purple being a safeguard from peril to the wearer, it appears to have the same attraction, for the sti letto of the assassin, and the bullet o.f the bravo, as a red rag has for a hull. Nor is this insidious foe confined nlone to the fend of the Muscovite and Tartar ; its ramifications extend throughout the length and breath of the Continent, au<l it may be- said that of all the Kuropean Soveriegns the h'fe of Queen Victoria i* the only one which is. foe from dangerWhile -the German Chanc-llnr was plotting and intriguing at home for the cxten.si.in of the cinpi re or" his master; while the Prussian conquerors were treading m triumph the boulevards of Paris ; while the flower of Preuch Chivalry were pining m captivity, and her once victorious eagles trailed m the dust, a foe more terrible and more insidious than the legions o$ France was secretly sapping the foundation^ of Yajerlftttd, and aiming

a deadly blow at the peace and prosperity of the newly-t'ormi d Kmpire. Bismarck, like a second Balthazzak, saw not the writing on the wall ; and after the glorious campaigu which changed the Prussian Kingdom into the Gtrman Empire, his efforts, instead of being given to consolidate and unite the people as a whole, were rather employed m outraging the liberties of those very people who had helped to build up the grandeur of the throne, and add new lustre to the name of Katser Wilhblm. The civil aud relixoiw liberties of the people were outraged, and the glorious era of victory and triumph abroad was sullied by tyrannies and persecutions at home. The foot of the conqueror, which had pressed but lightly upou the neck of a fallen foe, be"came that of a ruthless oppressor at home ; the priests were banished, the bishops imprisoned and fined, and Christianity itself made a bye-word of obloquy and scorn. Grermanj' is perhaps the most sceptical, if not iufi.le!, of all professedly Christian nations, aud the present hotßed of sedition ancL assassination, which are but other names for Socialism, is easily traceable .to a want of faith, and a total disregard of the laws of God. If we sow with the wind, we must expect to reap with whirlwind, and those nations which a-e now cowering m fear and dread of the secret work of the assassin have but themselves to blame. It is far easier to raise a storm than to alky one, and now m the evening of his days the man of Blood and Iron looks back with regret upon his past actions, and finds that bis political programme was not wisely chosen. History repeats itself, and the horrors conjured up by the infidel rulers of ..France duriug the Reign of Terror, may oace more find, a theatre upon the Continent, ending as then with the destruction of its originators, and involving all m one common ruin. So long ago as the year 1875 the work of the Nihilists had been known to be steadily undermining society m Russia, and their secret machinations' and operations were a source of considerable anxiety to the Government. To -such an extent did the alarm prevail, that the Minister of Education thought it advisable to a-'i dress a circular to his subordinates, warning them that " these people were attempting to seduce the minds of children, youths, and uneducated persons,' and that some parents, as has been shown by a judicial inquiry, have inculcated such doctrines on their offspring." An indigestible mass of Buckle, Spencer, and Mill, has been poured into the" minds unrestrained by any previous culture, and the revelations of the prophets of Positivism are receive'! as Gospel m some middle-class Russian families. It is a most significant fact that m those countries where infidelity and scepticism pretlominite, there Nihilism, Socialism, and- all the other organisations, whose aims are only against the peace of the State flourish : whiie m Great Britain as yet, happily, free from the social cancers encouraged on the Continent, liberty is sacred and life secure. Alexander IIT. is now Emperor of all the Russias, and sits upon what is considered a despotic throne, but if there be anything m the signs of the times, the regal bed is not likely to prove one of roses to him.