milder epithet to the invasion of Naples by the allies under the same pretences. It affords some consolation to the regret which must be felt by the friends of liberty for the success of such proceedings, to find them reprobated in all the civilized parts of the Christian world, with a more general consent of the public voice, than has been applied to any measure since the partition of Poland.

Thus all the arguments which could have been employed by the allies to justify their invasion of Italy, had been completely refuted in advance by the whole tenour of their language and conduct for thirty years past. They have since been refuted in another form by their policy in regard to the Greeks, which may be looked upon as a reductio ad absurdum of the doctrine of legitimacy. A horde of wandering barbarians carry fire and sword through the fairest region in Christendom, and succeed in subverting its government. They are the common enemies of Europe; and have repeatedly attempted to spread their desolating dominion over the rest of it. Nothing but want of power prevents them; and instead of acquiring civilization from residing in the neighbourhood of Christian countries, they have given, at the very moment when the allies were deliberating upon the subject, more horrid proofs of barbarism and cruelty than appear in any part of their previous history. The nation that groans under their yoke, and is now making a probably fruitless effort to

K

shake it off, is, on the contrary, in itself one of the most estimable branches of the European family, and is especially dear and interesting to all the rest, as the intellectual parent, to which they are indebted for their present superiority over the other parts of the world. Here, then, since the allies have established the doctrine of interference, was a cause in which it might have been applied with general approbation. I venture to say, there is not a heart in Christendom, unconnected with this Holy League, that would not have swelled with ecstasy at the emancipation of Greece and the return of freedom and civilization to the country from which they sprung. No doubt there is some illusion in this enthusiasm; but it is an illusion which every generous mind is proud to indulge, and which comes in aid of the incontestible claims of natural justice. Here, then, the allies might at once have proved their honesty, and have done something to redeem their popularity. But no; the Grand Turk is, it seems, legitimate; and the execution of the patriarchs in cold blood requires no atonement, calls for no interference, when done in the name of legitimacy; while the introduction of the most important improvements in administration into a country which is perishing for want of them, is a sacrilegious and treasonable enterprise, that must be crushed by open force, because it bears the name of revolution. Instead of interfering in favour of the Greeks, the allies

have, on the contrary, done every thing to discourage them, short of an absolute military alliance with the Turk. In reality, it is their policy, according to the shortsighted and mistaken view they are accustomed to take of it, to frown upon this enterprise. The establishment of a powerful government, administered on liberal principles, in their immediate neighbourhood, is not a pleasant thought to these iron despots; and a constitutional Greek empire would be a still less agreeable object of contemplation than a constitutional kingdom in Italy. Instead of favouring the erection of these fine countries into an independent state, it suits their purposes much better to leave them as they are, till the proper period arrives for taking them into their own hands, a measure for which a sufficient pretext will never be long wanting in the conduct of such a government as Turkey.

All the accounts from the theatre of this struggle, are so contradictory and uncertain, that it is impossible to form an opinion upon its present state, or probable result. It would appear that the Greeks have been successful in the Peninsula, and on the islands; and that they have the command of the sea. If they have really gained these advantages, it will be hardly possible for the Turks to recover them, should they even maintain themselves in the provinces along the Danube; and we may venture to indulge a hope that, at least, the proper territory of ancient Greece, the scene of so

much greatness and glory in former times, will now resume its political independence. This would at once relieve the most numerous and civilized portion of the Christian subjects of Turkey from that detestable yoke, and would furnish a rallying point for the future efforts of the rest. The day, it may be hoped, is not now very far remote when the civilization of Europe will over-flow its present limits, and carry wealth and happiness through the whole of those delightful, but desolate, regions that embosom the Mediterranean. Could the Christian powers but act together for good, with as much cordiality as they often do for evil, the regeneration of these countries might be accomplished almost without an effort. The expense which has lately been so miserably employed in crushing the liberal institutions of Naples, would, under such circumstances, have been sufficient to establish them in every part of the domains of Islamism.

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CHAP. V.

GERMANY, INCLUDING AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA.

It is one of the anomalies in the political constitution of the German confederacy, that it comprehends several powers, which are wholly independent in regard to the government of the greater part of their dominions, and have subjected only a small portion of them to the laws of the union. It would be worse than simplicity, not to see in this arrangement a mere pretext for the interference of England, Austria, and Prussia, in the affairs of Germany proper. These states are nominally members of the league, but really masters of it; and the union, considered in distinction from the independent possessions of the principal members, can hardly be said to enjoy a real political existence. It is fortunate, therefore, for the interests of the smaller states, that its general operation is as feeble as it is unjust; and that it leaves the members, as separate sovereignties, in possession of every thing essential to independence either in form or substance. The interval that has elapsed since the peace of Paris, has been marked in these states by important and interesting events. It has been the epoch of the introduction of repre