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Public Affairs.

THE influence which the cabinet of the Thuilleries has long had on the deliberations of most other cabinets; the vicinity of France to England; and the intercourse, social and commercial, of the subjects of the two countries; but, above all, the extraordinary circumstance of thirty or forty thousand armed Englishmen being to pass a few years in that country -like so many gentlemen on the grand tour, acquiring the language and visiting all the places of public resort;-these considerations entitle France, if not to our chief notice, certainly to the earliest notice we can bestow on it. We are, therefore, to place it once more in the fore-ground of our little speculation.

In a former number it was stated, that the great political equipoise, constituted by the Congress of Vienna, was such as to have left no FIRST POWER in Europe; and, as a consequence of no such power now existing, the term is in complete desuetude among our party statesmen. That august assembly took care to leave the great nation, if not quite independent, at least about to be so ;-in no condition, however, either to warrant the high tone of military braggarts, or to admit of any great movement being made without the concurrence of its neighbours. This was wise; and a stranger can now appear in Paris without being insulted, while adjoining countries are no longer subject to incessant alarm. But the power of the grand monarque depends on that of the great nation; and hence we find his Majesty, like our own Sovereign, in that enviable state in which it is very easy to do much good-legally impossible to do any

ill.

This view of France is new to beholders, and as astonish. ing as the contemplation of that more than human might which it recently possessed and exerted. In her present condition, she is, however, no longer an object of aversion to persons distinguished by cultivated taste. Her frightful

marks of barbarism wear off; and even the natives of these islands, in which none but free men can exist, and in which none but the profligate need be unhappy, fancy they shall be happier still by migrating to regenerated France. By such migration, France is no inconsiderable gainer; and it has often been said, that there are cases in which Great Britain also ought to profit from it. We allude to the cases, not certainly of ingenious artists, or of persons of slender fortunes, going abroad; but of idle rich people, who squander there what they ought to spend here, and that, too, without always bringing back improvements to be held out as suitable apologies for their absence. As matters now stand, all can travel when and where they please, the superior branches of the royal family excepted. Such is the law, and such let it be; only let the affluent and the great, who are thus on a better footing than the royal family, contribute something to the state for the privilege they enjoy.

Nobody has owned that he ever was so ignorant of human nature as to believe that the turbulent passions of the disappointed portion of the French would subside speedily and entirely. Didier, and the other malcontents of last Maythe residuum of Napoleon's Champ-de-Mai-have easily been subdued. We are glad they have-the event proving that the government is not without due vigour. But there is another consideration arising out of this insurrection, which is satisfactory-that of the precipitancy which cha racterized it: from which we may infer, that the conspirators were apprehensive that the possibility of doing mischief would become not greater, but less, through delay. Movements such as they have made, are no evidence of the folly of the measures of a government. They merely point out, if they point out any thing justly, the discontent of individuals with their private circumstances in life, or the dissatisfaction of certain classes of subjects with their position in society.

But if the French government be so capable of suppressing military commotions, why did it endure religious persecution so long? The answer is-It heard of intolerant proceedings in some of the provinces, but it never heard of their being of that heinous nature which some of us fancied; it did not know, for it was impossible to determine, whether the Protestants or the Catholics were the more criminal; and, even if the fact had been well ascertained, its last revolution was still too recent to admit of its power being divided, and

applied in various distant quarters. Of the gratuitous humanity, however, and the romantic generosity of some of the English, our neighbours must needs entertain a very high opinion! In this country there always exists, what to most foreigners will appear incredible, a party whose sole employment is publicly to vilify the members of administration, and to thwart their proceedings! The continuance of the occupation forms a habit in the individuals composing the party; and that habit is now and then seen manifesting itself at Paris, just as it had done in London. Hence it comes to pass, that some of us, who cannot possibly be very well acquainted with the real state of affairs in France, yet presume to think that we can appreciate, better than the French themselves, their acts of legislation, their judicial decisions, their ecclesiastical regulations, and the whole tenour of their policy domestic and foreign!

From his most Christian Majesty at Paris, to his Holiness at Rome, the transition cannot be unnatural; nor is any thing so improbable as that one should think of the Pope and not of Sir Henry Parnell. It is certain that the Pope was not permitted to re-occupy his states, till he had consented to abridge the power of the Inquisition; and it is not doubted that he has engaged to use his endeavours to moderate the claims of his Catholic children in Ireland. His doing the one will be important to all mankind; his attempting the other will, in all probability, be conducive to the comfort and repose of these islands; and the disaffected over the water will feel and allow as much, if the time ever come when moderation shall be a principle of their conduct, and the public good one of their motives. But Sir H. Parnell says, "You cannot expect the Catholics to be peaceable, if you make them no concessions." He ought rather to have said, they will not be peaceable till you make them every concession-till you give them all you have got. Would they be contented, and avoid giving offence, particularly through the indulgence of a proselyting spirit, were they even to be put upon a footing with the Protestants? Who can and will become security, either for their being satisfied with the privileges which the legislature may grant, or for their not converting them to a pernicious purpose? The legislature will not trust to Sir Henry Parnell's responsibility; and we must not be suspected of flattery if we assert, that if all the advocates which the Catholics have ever had were to unite in a bond of security, it would not be one whit better

than Sir Henry's own. It was on the 6th of last month that be enumerated the important concessions that he was anxious to see made, and which he styled subordinate. God help us all to be reasonable! If they were but subordinate concessions, how incomprehensibly lofty and gigantic must those of the first order be. Sir H. Parnell is not an enemy to Ireland; but we are certain that no man can possibly go the length of urging all the claims of the Catholics, without prejudicing both the character and the interests of that country. For the amusement of our readers, we shall note down as many of the subordinate concessions recommended to be made, as we can recollect. They were to be the offices of Tellers and Cashiers of the Exchequer, of Serjeants at Law, of Masters in Chancery, of Attorney and Solictor General, of Sheriffs and Under-Sheriffs, with all civil offices whatever in Corporations, and all posts in the Army and Navy, excepting only those of Commander-in-chief of the Army or of the Navy. He also proposed that the Catholics should be empowered to vote at elections, without the necessity of taking the oaths at present tendered, and that they should be allowed to sit in parliament on taking the oaths that are taken by Protestants.-Had the Catholics called for these concessions in their favour, declaring that they should never desire more; and could they, at the same time, have satisfied parliament of their sincerity, and of the conse quent security of the Protestant religion, we should have said, in the case of their success, that a mighty boon had been granted to them. But when they ask for so muchsaying it is only something subordinate and preliminary; when their private doctrines shew that their sincerity is to be suspected, and their public proceedings that protestantism would be insecure, indeed, did it depend on their mo deration; we only say, Parliament must continue firm, or.

all is lost.

So limited is the patriotism of Englishmen, that while they esteem and love their fellow-subjects, they content themselves with merely respecting the rights of other nations, and with treating as friends such of them as do not act like enemies. If this trait in their character be a fault, it is a grievous onea long series of occurrences, many of them not immemorial, having afforded ground for believing, that it is unalterably fixed. Thus virtuously preferring their own country to all. others, they commend the performance of such deeds as they themselves would have been proud to have attempted to

perform, had opportunities of doing so presented themselves. But as they value the acts, so they esteem the actors; and the love they bear their country is extended to those who have effectually served it. This equitable result, no declamation however specious, no artifices however ingenious, has ever been able long to prevent; and, at this crisis, we have a notable instance of it, in the comparative popularity of the supporters and the opposers of government.

We do not know that despondency is deemed a virtue by the opposition. Be it what it may among them, it is something which they have cherished till it has lost its effect. Who that has heard their melancholy forebodings during peace, and their awful denunciations during war, will henceforth care one pin about any thing they may say? Some of their own body may affect alarm and appear serious, but the rest of the world will be amused and smile. You must not, they once exclaimed, oppose yourselves to the revolutionists of France, (the jacobins,) for their doctrines are those of nature and mankind! Much less ought you to presume to thwart the projects of The Great Prince, for his power is colossal and uncontrolable! You must not do the one-it will be injurious to liberty and the rights of man: you must not attempt the other, for you possess not means equal to the enterprise." England, oppressed with debt, "and eaten up with taxes, must be utterly ruined if the con"test with France be prolonged." But the foundation of a wise system of finance had already been laid; powerful means of resistance were found according to exigencies; and, through a prudent masterly application of the general resources of the country, the absurdity of factious despondency was fully demonstrated. The struggle has terminated, and we have a peace, the conditions of which seem to indicate, that the solid fame of Great Britain is susceptible of no farther increase. They far exceed any thing we ever asked of heaven, or ever expected of man. With but half the brilliant success which Lord Liverpool has enjoyed, he who taught England to save itself by its firmness, and other empires by its example, would have died free from anxiety about his much-loved country's fate.

The affairs of nations are known never to be stationary`; and if the renown of Great Britain cannot be advanced, it must experience a retrograde course. What a fine weapon does this put into the hands of opposition! Their opponents deserve to feel it; for they laboured hard to provide it. In