March, 1854, to December, 1873.

THE combination of diplomatic action with the movements of fleets and armies, to the history of which so much of this number is devoted, is probably the most astonishing result of the employment of human intelligence that the world has ever seen. Its success was insured by its apparent impossibility. Those who were at once the instruments in the plot and the victims of the dénouement, were as incapable of understanding what was being done, as a child to follow the calculations of a NEWTON or a DESCARTES. There is nothing a priori incredible in this when the incalculable distance that separates the powers of one human mind from another is considered. But in this case the difference was caused, not by there being on the one side any one of extraordinary powers of mind amongst the living actors, but because, several years ago, two or three such men lived, by whose united genius a plan for the domination of the world was called into being and carried on to a point at which ordinary mortals sufficed to continue the work; the lines being all laid for them, and the work being made easy by the progressive decay on the other side of the human qualities which would have opposed them. The forethought in this case was carried so far that we find it laid down in one of the secret Russian despatches published in the Portfolio, that if ever England attacked Russia in the Black Sea, Sebastopol would be the object of her hostilities, and at the end of the last century an English Secretary of Embassy at St. Petersburg wrote to his Government that the Russians could make themselves masters of Constantinople whenever they pleased, because the event might happen before Europe had learnt that their fleet had left Sebastopol. The Times articles, which sent us there, were only sermons preached upon those texts.

On the other hand, the Author of the present history of this war had, at the time, predicted the consequences that would follow, and in doing so used expressions which then appeared extravagant, and which must have been considered entirely disproved when the so-called war came to an end at the Congress of Paris. Mr. URQUHART said, in a published letter on the "Invasion of the Crimea," dated August 10, 1854::

"What Russia has in view is the degradation of the governing autho"rity. It is not only the war of State against State that she works for, "but, as remarked by GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, of class against class. "She has now got Europe between the upper and the nether millstone, will she withdraw her hand until she has ground it to dust. If "there be an escape it is solely in believing what I tell you.”

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War of State against State, and of class against class is not this the exact description of Europe to-day? For though the cannon only thunders for the moment in a corner of Spain, who can deny that the calm around is only a truce, and one that is being put to profit on the side of the aggressors to prepare for the renewal of the active phase of the struggle?

Prussia is increasing her armaments, paid for by the spoils of

France. She is also preparing for her own future dismemberment, by creating a "war of class against class" within herself. The one process is being followed by her as resolutely and as energetically as the other, and both are the work of the same man. It was Prince BISMARCK who first put the Catholic Clergy on the same footing as the Communists, by calling one the "black International" and the other the "red." Ön his bare assertion that they were disloyal to the Empire, for which he had not a single proof to offer, he has put them under the ban of the law, and is preparing to drive them into exile.

Out of twenty-five and a half millions, which compose the population of the Kingdom of Prussia, above eight millions are Roman Catholics.

The present status of the "International," which is that of a power with which Governments have to count, is owing in a great measure to the action of the same man. How he fostered it in France during the war, and after the peace, we have before shown; and what is now going on in Spain is the result of what happened in France, while the changes that are taking place in Germany, all produced directly or indirectly by the policy of BISMARCK, are of a nature to encourage its progress there. Germany had hitherto been remarkable for the social harmony which prevailed between the Protestants and Catholics, and for the general well-being spread through all ranks, with the absence of a class of very wealthy capitalists and speculators. The elements for social disorganisation therefore seemed to be wanting. The results of the invasion of France, and the use which the Minister who planned and carried it through has made of his absolute power, has changed

all that.

The English papers have lately been talking of the unexampled financial prosperity of Germany. One journal* gives the following remarkable picture of its condition in that respect, which is, that as Germany, instead of resting on her laurels, is engaged in reorganising her army, equipping it with a new rifle, and rebuilding and re-arming her great fortresses; the weight of taxation would be intolerable, had she to do this out of her current revenue,† but that she is saved from that necessity by the huge indemnity she exacted from France, while, at the same time, the money thus spent is creating wealth all over the Empire. It concludes with the reflection that as the great prosperity of Prussia is mainly due to the French indemnity, "this fact adds incalculably to the dangers with which "civilisation is threatened, by imparting a new impetus to the pas❝sions which excite to war.' To which we may add that of all the States in the world, Prussia alone possesses a War Treasure, and that it amounts to six millions sterling in gold, placed in the fortress of Spandau, and confided to the charge of a special administration.‡ *The Morning Post.

Her Allies have not profited in the same way. Having at once to place their armaments on the same footing as hers, their expenditure has been enormous. By a statement lately made in the Diet of Bavaria, the whole of her part in the ransom of France, thirteen millions sterling, has been swallowed up in her military expenditure, except the paltry sum of two hundred thousand pounds.

Cologne Gazette.

The French indemnity has therefore produced a new danger for the tranquillity of the world, a fresh means for carrying out Russia's object of war of State against State. It is also producing, by its indirect effects, a state of things favourable to the war of class against class. The "prosperity" which has resulted from it is only the bright side of the picture, and the dark side has been painted chiefly by Germans themselves. It consists in the rapid spread of corruption in every shape, in wild speculation, unbounded luxury, and vice in its most revolting aspect. The sudden influx of money has produced the same effect on the whole people, that it proverbially does on an individual; the habits of all classes have been changed to a degree that in other countries years have been required to bring about, and the result has been that, in certain respects, "moral "Germany" already surpasses even France in the opposite vice.* In Germany, then, way is being prepared for the war of "class against class," as well as for that of "State against State."

Russia and Prussia are now the military Powers. But while the armies of the latter are at the disposal of the former, she-Russiamay content herself with taking care that the Maritime Powers do not regain their strength. One means to this end, in addition to all the others, is her advance upon Khiva. While our so-called Statesmen are pretending to be satisfied that Russia should become the "civiliser" of the Mahometan populations of Central Asia, in their hearts they know that once established there, hanging over India, they will no more dare to take one step displeasing to her than a craven at whose breast a pistol was held would lift a finger against his assailant. So far therefore as they are concerned, our maritime rights are gone for ever, and we are already between the " upper and the nether "millstone," although they are not yet at work.

In Switzerland the satellites of the Prussians pursue their way without rest and without remorse; the two infernal machines of a new form of religion imposed by the Civil Power, and the "revision" of the constitution, are hard at work.

France-what can we say of France? There are Frenchmen who tell us to hope, but with the exception of the trial of Marshal BAZAINE, we do not see grounds for hope. That country holds within its breast every element of disorder, and those who are not engaged on that side have not yet shown themselves capable of making the stupendous effort which must be made to save her.

The effort we refer to is that of study, so as to acquire knowledge of law and knowledge of facts. So completely are the well-disposed still in the dark that a Newspaper, supposed to represent those deputies who are the most patriotic and the least actuated by the feelings of partisans, has lately given, as a reason for not adopting the proposition to take peace and war out of the hands both of the Government and of the Assembly, and to place them in those of a judicial body, that France is still suffering so much from the late war with Prussia and its consequences! It then goes on to conAn article in the National Zeitung says that the theatres at Berlin surpass the worst that can be found at Paris.

found that proposal with the one of Mr. RICHARD for "Inter"national Arbitration."

Italy pursues its inevitable course towards bankruptcy and disruption. Its last public act of brigandage, the occupation of Rome, has been rendered more odious by all the convents and religious houses there having been seized upon by the Government."

The Pope has lately taken a remarkable step by the terms of an encyclical, in which he has recapitulated the various violations of right directed against the Catholic Church in Europe, but especially in Prussia and in Switzerland. In this document, by his appeal to the treaty engagements which have been violated in Switzerland, he gives a lesson to his flock, who, as yet, have not taken any of the steps required of those who suffer in consequence of an infraction of public law.

The events which have followed in Europe in quick and regular succession from the moment in which England suspended her maritime rights and sent an army to the Crimea, have had above all things this result that the Pope has been deprived of his dominions, and that the Catholic Church is actively persecuted in a great part of the civilised world. The hierarchy of that Church comprises a great number of deeply learned and most intelligent men; they are devoted to the Head of their Church, and are necessarily stimulated by every possible motive to desire that he should be independent and themselves free to exercise their ministry. How is it that not one of them understood what was passing in the world a bit more than the Governments, who were not learned or intelligent, and had none of the motives that they had to be anxious to be right?

It is not necessary for us to answer this question. It suffices to point out that the Church of Rome might have prevented the Crimean War, had some of its members, clerical or lay, been instructed in the Law of Nations and the designs of Russia. Equally might she have prevented the subsequent events. We cannot now hope that Society will be saved from dissolution, or the progress of the conspiracy against the world arrested, until the leading members of the Church of Rome do see that it is their duty to understand the Right of Search, and their business to teach their flock the Law of Nations.

The Trial of Marshal Bazaine and the History of the Crimean War.

THESE two subjects, to which so large a portion of our space is devoted, ought to be considered in their relationship to one another. The trial of the Commander of the Army of Metz is the first instance, since the era of Ministerial despotism, of public affairs being subjected to a judicial process. It is not, as might appear at first sight, a mere trial of a General for a breach of the Articles of War, although that

is the form which it took. But that part of his conduct which fell under the letter of those articles, was a small portion of the whole case. The remainder consisted of his conduct as a political personage; in his ostensibly and avowedly pretending to change the Government of his country, and seeking to obtain a predominating influence in its affairs by a combined action with the enemy. That is his own description of his conduct, and he justified his breach of the Military Code by saying that it was no longer in force, because there existed no regular Government in France at the moment. The implication is that a man in the possession of power is not limited in his use of that power, unless written laws exist to specify his attributions, and to pronounce a penalty on their being overstepped. This is exactly the position of Ministers in modern times. To bring out the criminality of their proceedings, it would often suffice that they should be tried on an issue, technically small compared to the real character and results of their acts. One result of the trial of Marshal BAZAINE has been to raise a cry for that of the members of the Government of the Defence, and especially of GAMBETTA; and, however mixed up with mere party feelings, the very articulation of such a desire is a tendency that ought carefully to be turned to account by any who see the real cause of the instability, and at the same time the irresponsibility of every Government in France, and how far the other European countries have already advanced on the same road.

Upon such dispositions of mind as these, the history of the Crimean War, now for the first time given to the world, must produce an effect which a short time ago no one could have ventured to anticipate. Much as there has been previously written, both by the author of the letter which we have published and by others on the subject, each one who reads the present history of it will be obliged to say that it is as if he had never read it before. It is now put before us as the most incontrovertible of narratives, and at the same time as surpassing in improbability the most extravagant of romances. But being incontrovertible, the improbability becomes probability, and the question is, why should not such things be, since the people among whom they passed could not perceive them?

One of our correspondents writes to us: "Going through 'La "Force Navale' has profoundly depressed me. When such a history is possible, what gulfs of perdition may not yet be before

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us ?"

It was only possible because a long course of government unrestrained by the law, generations of men brought up in the idea of there being no connexion between war and justice, between the decisions of cabinets and the laws of the land, or the Commandments of God, had weakened the intelligence and debased the soul, as well as perverted the reasoning powers of each.

It

required a long period of time for the deleterious effects of this political atmosphere to produce such an effect upon men, not political but professional and military, that they could be as directly used as instruments by the conspirators, as diplomatists had long been. The whole scheme would have fallen through, had Lord PALMERSTON not