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Eastern , not as a European question . These northern states , although independent , are weak , and they require a guarantee that Russian encroachment in the Worth shall be no less arrested thau B-ussian encroachment in the East . " "What , " say the Swedes , " matters it to us that the Euxine is free , while the Baltic is * under [ Russian domination ? What care we whether Seba ' stopol be destroyed if Cronstadt contain a formidable
and increasing fleet ? " What , indeed ! But we can do little in the Baltic without the aid of a Scandinavian army ; they cau do nothing without the aid of an Anglo-French fleet . What is the price of the aid of a Scandinavian army ? That the war should be frankly developed into a European war , the whole of the Allied Powers pledging themselves to put a stop to Russian preponderance in the Baltic as well as in the Black Sea .
There are then two questions for solution , the Eastern and the Scandinavian Questions ; we are doing something towards a solution of the former , and let us hope that we shall be in a position to attempt the solution of the latter before the ice of next winter has melted away .
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TWO COUPS D'ETAT . TnEitE have been two additional coups d'etat in Europe—the one as yet a failure , the other partially successful . The more fortunate champion of " society " is his Majesty of Hanover ; his mimic is the King ( or Queen ) of Greece . We have already observed upon the constitutional struggle that has taken place in Hanover . It was abruptly brought to a crisis at the beginning of this month . The
king dissolved his parliament , which had refused to register his decree ; abolished the institutions of 1848 , and proclaimed that the laws of the state would , in future , stand upon the original basis , prepared by the agents of the Frankfort Assembly . Thus has a liberal people been deprived , by a sudden and illegal act , of privileges it had obtained by peaceful means , and exercised with more than judicious moderation . For , if there be a moral in the Hanoverian drama , it is , that the two chambers had refrained from the creation of
legitimate checks upon the authority of the crown . This , indeed , is the local and special meaning of the late events in Hanover . But the great public principle affirmed is one which has been adopted in nearly all the lesser kingdoms of Germany—the principle that at the next settlement of Europe , whether after a general war or a general
revolution , the powers of the Federative Diet should be abridged , if not extinguished . Political enmity , in this instance , signifies universality of oppression . If our peers and chairmen of companies desire an illustration of " solidarity , " they will find it in the compact and the action of tho Germanic Confederation . In
that autocratic council , representing the governments of Germany , who , in their turn , represent the Holy Alliance , tho states of Germany agree , all for one , and one for all , to repress any developments of liberalism that may threaten to carry tho ideas of tho German race above the snow-line of absolute power . Thoy who tmeer at tho suggestion of a principle , as an aid more valuable than a diplomatic alliance , should study tho
organisation and tho objects of tho Franktort Assembly . It signifies little , in a direct aeiiao , to Austria or Prussia , that Hanover enjoys a popular frnnchisc . The utmost expansion of material force , or of political enthusiasm in that confined ntalo , could not raise it to the proportions of a province in cithor of tho leading monarchies . But unrestricted liberalism in Hanover would loosen tho frame
of Federative Germany , and perhaps excite sedition within contiguous frontiers . Therefore it is that the Georgian seal is for the present omnipotent , and that a coup d ' e ' can be advanced to a certain stage in defiance of the Hanoverian chambers . As matters stand , the Parliament is dissolved , and cannot meet without declaring itself independent of the throne , which would be a step towards a Constituent Assembly . Such an act of political courage would probably bring to the
rescue of " Geobge Rex a Germanic army of occupation , the police of the Holy Alliance . The danger , however , would not be confined to one side . Military tactics , resorted to in defence of unconstitutional assumptions , have been as often as otherwise the signal of more extended rebellion . Nevertheless , the probability is that the King of Hanover , armed
with a pretext and a contingent , would cut up the Liberal party in his kingdom by the roots , sever all the minute connexions between his prerogative and the popular constitution , and thus renew his lease of pigmy despotism . On the other hand , should the chambers succumb , their corporate existence will cease within a few months , or perhaps sooner . A new Parliament elected under the former
system will succeed them , and bring an official majority to the service of the throne . The franchise which existed in Hanover before 1848 was even more restricted than that which existed in France before the same period . An election then was the mere response of placemen and functionaries to the proclamations of arbitrary power . Moreover , as the first act of this marionette assembly would infallibly be to recognise the usurpations of the Frankfort Diet , Hanover ,
thrown back to its oid position , would have to recommence , with a mute public opinion and a stifled press , its conflict for constitutional liberty . To the rest of the minor German states—waiting for an examplethe discouragement might be disastrous . Even Wurtemberg , which promises to become a Piedmont in the north , with the King as its leading reformer , would be reduced to
an attitude of timidity , itself humiliating and calculated to damp the faith of the longsuftering German people . We look , consequently , with peculiar solicitude to the next phase of the crisis in Hanover . And this interest , let us add , is not exaggerated or without its use . While the leading nations of Europe lie quiescent , or have suspended their political activity , the lesser states exhibit almost all that remains of constancy
or of vigour . Prussia is a king ' s machine , while Belgium is the resort of Liberals , to whom , with as much of courage as it dares in tho face of Europe to show , it affords an asylum , with tho privileges of free thought and discussion . Austria is governed by an Emperor " responsible only to God , " and by ministers " responsible only to the Emperor ; " while Wurtemberg is governed by a prince who invites his subjects to encircle tho royal prerogative with parliamentary authority , and with statutory guarantees . Switzerland and Piedmont maintain a
successful struggle with ecclesiastical powers , representing tho more formidable despotisms of tho Catholic world . And Hanover , as we have shown , has brought upon itself an imitation of tho Napoleonic process by a resolute maintenance of parliamentary and constitutional authority . Thus do states geographically inferior deserve the sympathy and respect of Europe-, while othors , of great historical importance , sufler the yoke of sovereigns who rule by virtue of their contempt for the human speeiea . Such manifestations may appear insignificant to Liberals who think that nothing is gained except by
combustion ; but may we not see , in every community tnat adheres to its political faitn , the prolific seed-plot of future developments , auspicious to the general liberties of Christendom . ? The second coup d ' etat has been on a more paltry Bcale . The King ( or rather the Queejt ) of Gtbeece has struck at the constitution , and the result has been only a hollow sound . Ever Bince Greece has been a kingdom , it has possessed one man of steady
temperament and reasonable public spirit , who has moderated the excesses of the court , and the exaggerations of the patriotic party . General Kalebgi , in 1843 , prevented the Greek revolution from degenerating into a street broil , and , perhaps , into a victorious massacre . His firmness , which calmed the people , and arrayed them in imposing masses before the palace , overwhelmed the cowardice of the King and the insolence of the Queen , who no longer put their trust in the sanguinary
braggadocio of the Bavarian hussars . The constitution , composite as it was , relieved Greece from a proportion of German brutality and German beggary ; and some of the expelled Ministers fled to London , became traders , and conspired , with vindictive treachery , to place a Russian prince on the throne in the room of Otho . Knowing some of the relations existing between this Finsbury settlement and the Court of Athens , we were not surprised that
Kalergi , from the time of his last return to office , should be thwarted by a secret influence playing upon Queen Amelia . His Ministry , comprehending the necessities ot the times , have acted in accordance with them , and have opposed the intrigues ot Russia . For this offence , not only Kai / eegi , but his most intimate friends—even ladieshave been banished the Court . Finally , the King , having concerted measures with the Russian , Austrian , and Prussian Ambassadors ,
acted as their deputy , and despatched an aide-de-camp to Kaxer gi with his dismissal . A cabinet council , it is said , immediately replied that Otho was obviously acting under private influence , that he had no authorityand his wife still less—to interfere with the Ministers , and that Kalebgi should remain at his post . The French Ambassador , with his English colleague , appear to have
supported the General , who does not seem to consider the royal prerogative very formidable in Greece . Upon being informed that the porters at the palace had orders not to admit him , and that the Bavarian Minister had threatened him with a challenge , he proceeded with his official business ; and thus the Cabinet remains , smitten by the thunders of the throne , as though Otho ' s decree were no more than an inebriated ejaculation of the
King of Mosquito . But matters cannot remain upon this footing . Queen Amelia has gone too far , and , if the present Ministry remains in power , has no alternative but to quit the country , or sink into utter insignificance . The Russian atar—the gift of Nicholas—that sparkles on her bosom , will then be her only distinction . We are not accustomed , however , to rapid
improvements in Greece . Though a separate state , under a European guarantee , it is a mere arena of ambassadors , and was principally influenced by Russian and German counsels , until the allied army oi occupation extended to General Kaxkkqi a support more positive than that of secret ^ cxnoranda . But the question arises , wheni ttto war ceases , and the Allies have y «^ ™ their troops , what is to ^ . » e ° f G ^ Its Gree / c population ^ oft WJg < ^^^ : ^^<^ *> be ignored or neglected .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 25, 1855, page 815, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2103/page/11/
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