THREATENING ASPECT OF AFFAIRS IN EUROPE.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume X, Issue 472, 22 March 1851, Page 17

THREATENING ASPECT OF AFFAIRS IN EUROPE.

[From the Times, November 12.] I •7. ! ast ar "valB from Germany indicate no mitigation of the formidable, symptoms of impending war which have now seriously arrested the attention of Europe. On ihe contrary, several of the contingencies to which we have, occasionally^ adverted as distant and possible dangers, have now assumed the shape of near realities. The instinctive incredulity with which J men naturally receive intelligence so contrary j to their interests and so fatal to a long and prosperous era of peace, has given way to a more earnest perception of the common peril, since the warlike decision taken at Berlin on ' the 6th of November, and the funds have, been more powerfully affected on the continental Exchanges of Europe than they had been since the convulsion of 1848. Even in London the effect has been perceptible, though hot'violent ; foV there is, happily, nothing to implicate this <foqntry in the hazards of such a war any more than in the revolutions which were the original cause of these dissensions. But although these signs of the times are stormy and afflicting — for no one can pretend to foresee the termina- ] tion or the extent of snch a contest when once] actually begun—yet as long as no blow has been struck all hope of arrangement is not 1 extinct ; the negotiations were still going on ; Count Bernstorff, the Prussian Minister, had not left Vienna; arvd it was still in the power of the Court of Berlin to stay the calamities which its own folly and vacillation have drawn dowu upon Germany. - ' The death of Count Bradenburgh happening at the moment at which it occurred may indeed prove to be an event of incalculable gravity. We have reason to believe that, on assuming the arduous and responsible post of Prime Minister ia the teeth of the revolution,. he exacted and obtained a positive promise that in any great emergency his decision should prevail over all opposition in the Council. The; King of Prussia respecte.d that promise, and however the course of the Sovereign might waver that of his faithful Minister was upright and firm ; but, unhappily, in the very crisis of the fate of Germany death released the King from his engagement, and within four hours of the death of Count Brandenburgh the decision which he had so forcibly resisted two days before received the assent of the Sovereign, who had already relapsed under other and more pernicious influences. It is impossible to record these occurrences of the day without being reminded of the Ministerial contests and the Royal irresolution which preceded the opening of the -disastrous campaign of 1806. Then, as now, • the most faithful servants of the Crown were not blind to the political weakness of their position, to their diplomatic isolation, and to their inferiority of military force. But the evil genius of their country, with a mass of incredible illusions and angry passions, and a miscalculation of their own real power, unhappily prevailed. Politically speaking, this war, if war there is to be, is in our judgment the most fatal error which the Prussian Government could commit, for we do not adopt the inference of j some of our contemporaries, that Prussia is to assume again the part of a champion of those democratic opinions she has been eager to put down, or that«he would derive any real advantage from a fresh appeal to the revolutionary passions of Germany. In the severe exercise of regular warfare popular ebullitions acquire a very inferior importance; and if once hostilities are commenced the campaign _will be decided by military rather than by political arguments, and by the forces or skill of the successful party, not by the cause they may inscribe on their banners. The Prussian Government seems to have taken this view, for on General Groeben's inquiry by telegraph what conduct he was' to pursue towards the forces of the Confederation, he was ordered to pursue the conduct of a Prussian general at the bead of a division of the army without reference to political consequences. Shortly afterwards he is said to have declared to Prince Thurn and Taxis that the Prussian and Bavarian armies must be considered to be on a footing of hostility — an intimation which, if correctly reported, amounts to a declaration of war ; but so important a fact requires confirmation. j The position of the main body of the Prussian army with which we are at present best acquainted (for the distribution of the forces behind the' Elbe and the Oder is imperfectly known to us), is remarkable, and within the last few days it baa been considerably changed by the partial occupation of Hesse. Its extreme right still rests on Coblenz, Ehrenbreitstein, and the Lahn — a position of great strength which cannot be turned or taken; but the centre and left of this army have advanced considerably to the south, so as to open a great line of military communication from Wetzlar to Hersfeld and Cassel in the Electoral territory, and to reach Geisa within the frontier of SaxeWeimar. The advanced detachment which has arrived south of Fulda, close to the Bavarian outposts, occupies the line of the Rhongebirge, which may be regarded as the strategical demarcation of northern Germany on that point. The Prussian corps in the occupation of Baden forms of course no part of these operations, and may be in fact cut off unless it can effect a passage by the Rhine; but orders have been transmitted to the South to concentrate this division in the neighbourhood of Frankfort.. Hesse Darmstadt, however, which commands the intermediate territory, has declared for the Diet and received a body of Federal troops at Seligenstadt, on the south side of thr Maine. Within the lines which it occupies in Electoral Hesse and its confines, the Prussian army, now placed under the orders of General yon Strotba, is thus exceedingly strong. It has ft carefully

selected position, flanked by a fortress of the first class, with a river in its front and a railroad in its rear; and the natural character of the ground is more favourable to the defence of such a country than to the attack. But the express object of the Federal troops, if they, are to execute the injunctions of the Confederation, is to dislodge the Prussian army from the Electoral territory, where certainly it has no colourable right to be. Yet by a direct attack it is uncertain, or rather improbable, that this object could be effected at all, especially as the Prussian generals havg. within, reach forces, superior in number to those of Prince Thurn and Taxis. The interest of these contemplated operations lies, we think, rather more to the east, where the Austrian army, which has been gradually collected in the Vorarlberg, is now rapidly concentrating its masses on .the angle of the Thuringian forest. , We have already traced the vanguard of that army as far as Coburg : from that point it might proceed, as we pointed out yesterday, to repeat the grand operation of Napoleon and his generals before Jena ; but its object may be supposed to be to disengage the Hessian territory rather than to strike a direct blow at Prussia on the line of the Elbe. Hence we infer that from Coburg this corps will proceed by Meiningen and the valley of the Werra till, it finds itself opposed to the left wing of the Prussians. - This march can be effected without any encroachment on the Saxon or Prussian territory, and would place the Austrian corps on the high road >to Qassel ; or, in the event of a Federal intervention in Holstein, it might reach, that province through Hanover. That kingdom, however, stiU preserves a neutral character, siding neither with the Federalists nor with the Prussians. The present state of Germany has had a considerable effect on the belligerents in the north, though the Stadtholderate of Kiel has returned a most imperious refusal to the summons of the Diet to desist from hostilities. Many of their most active German officers, such as Van der Tann and others, who were allured to Holstein merely by the love of military adventure, and were in fact soldiers of fortune there, have been recalled to their own regiments in Germany ; while the Prussian army of observation, which was said to amount to 25,000 men in Hamburgh and along the frontier, has been abruptly ordered to repair southwards. We are not even sure that Prussia has left a garrison in those Hansea tic towns she has go long coveted; and she is no longer insensible to the danger and inconvenience of having alienated from herself her nearest northern neighbour, who may menace her ports at the very time when all her strength is required to watch her doubtful friends or to resist her open antagonists. For it is the peculiar danger of Prussia at this time that she has no part of her lengthy frontier which can be called secure. In front of her she sees all Southern Germany.in arms ; Russia holds a menacing attitude on the east, recognising the Confederation of Germany, and resolved if necessary to defend the integrity of Denmark; France cannot be relied on for a day with the Rhenish provinces full in view; and even her rear and her coast may be weakened by the measures taken by Denmark for the recovery of its rights in the Duchies, We do not question the courage and the patriotism of the Prussians, and even their military resources are remarkable, though they have sometimes been overrated by themselves ; but a country which has estranged from itself every ally, and roused so many powerful adversaries by no cause but its own perverseness and selfishness, must be incapable of a prolonged resistance; and we only hope that, if the peace of Europe be unhappily broken/ this, contest will be confined to the states with which it-origi-nates, and will be brought by themselves to a speedy termination.

Friendly Societies. — There are 14,000 friendly societies in England, having 1,600,000 members, an annual revenue amounting to £2,800,060, and an .accumulated capital of £6,400,000. A still greater number of minor friendly societies are not enrolled, and do not therefore possess the* privileges and means of self- protection enjoyea by the former. It is estimated that there are 33,223 societies in this position in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; having 3,052,000 members, -an annual revenue of £4,980,000, and with funds amounting to so large a sum as £1 1,360,000, the praiseworthy accumulations of the purely industrial 'classes. , Indeed, half of the lababouring adult population are members of benefit societies. The Freehold Land Movement, although only, two years in existence, is progressing rapidly. There are nearly fifty societies in full force in different parts of the country, having no less than 14,281 members. They have issued 90,475 shares, thirty- one estates have been purchased and allotted, the number of allotments'being 3,199, whilst the price of the shares has varied in the different societies, from £19 10s., to £40.— Dispatch. Mr. Robinson, of London, has discovered that the effects of ether arc completely removed by a few inhalations of oxygen. The celebrated physician, Henry Marsh, has published a small but conclusive pamphlet, in which he says, if soup diet be relied on in Ireland, to any considerable extent, the population will be carried off by; dysentery. v At Preston, a man was killed by a dose of cayenne pepper and herb tea, administered by a quack. In Burnley, a girl, aged eighteen, was also killed by a quack who prescribed a decoction of heterogenous herbs. Dr. Miles, a physician at Cincinnati, affirms that he has discovered a substitute for calomel in the tomato ; and that "in the South West, the compound extract of tomato is by far the most popular medicine in circulation, particularly for bilious complaints."