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REFLECTIONS

ON THE

EUROPEAN REVOLUTION

OF

1848.

PART THE FIRST.

THE CASE STATED.

B

PART THE FIRST.

I. SPECULATIVE minds have doubted of the real and independent existence of a material universe :—but man brought into contact with some great natural convulsion, such as a tempest, a whirlwind, a hurricane, or an earth-. quake, has then no choice but to acknowledge the presence of a power other than himself, irresistibly compelling him at once to suffer and submit. It is the same in the moral world during periods of public commotion. Popular riots, insurrections, revolutions, teach the Politician a similar lesson. Human institutions, that have hitherto existed as if to show man's creative faculty and their own stability, now give way before the manifestations of a new spirit; a spirit which, though working by and through him, can scarcely be said to be of him; so sudden as well as violent are they in their appearance, so unexpected by all, so ill prepared for by any-the inspiration of the moment, not the growth of foresight or design. Many may have groaned under oppression-have murmured at it-consulted about it-desired its destruction-taken means to accomplish it-named a time for it. But all has been in vain. Groans, murmurs, consultations, wishes; mere idle sounds and aspirations :-the means have failed, the time has passed away unimproved. And now, strong in its resources, Tyranny itself takes the initiative, smilingly

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