The second volume of the Annual Retrospect of Public Affairs,
forming a portion of Dr. LAR.DNEWS "Cabinet Library," has just appeared. We have read it with attention ; and are glad to find, that as the author approaches the real business of his book—for the first volume was a sort of hasty summary of previous affairs—. he enters upon his narrative with freedom. and energy. The ob. ject, in such a publication, was to give a clear and copious terra. tive of the course of public events for one year ; recording the principal incidents in a general manner, and showing their depen- dence upon one another, with some development of the views of parties and the general spirit and tendency of the age. We are satisfied that this volume answers our notions of what it ought to be.; and we wish that, with some slight and general introduction prefixed to it, it had stood alone. • That part of it which forms the history of the Belgie Revolution is an able historical and philosophical precis : we cannot deny it this praise, though we do not coincide in the author's view of parties, or sympathize with the spirit in which he writes of the Belgian cause. This spirit is too narrowly English. He looks upon DE POTTER as a kind of Hum., and the movers in the Revolution as a parcel of discontented Radicals. It is true, that the more forward and turbulent leaders in a popular movement are rarely the best of men ; but a popular cause is not to be judged by its most active agents. The mass generally moves by its ids inertial; and because certain individuals of no great weight are alone conspicuous, it does not follow that the cause is theirs, or that the people is their tool. The mass countenances : without being backed by the silent but understood force of public opinion, such individuals would fall to the ground instantly. Besides, there is an inconsistency running through the whole of the writer's history of this revolution. He refers with indignation to the arbitrary and despotic manner in which Belgium was unholily joined with Holland, and sympathizes with the feelings of freemen on their being tiansferred like sheep to a salesman ; and yet he cannot understand the reasonableness of their seizing the very first opportunity that presented itself of bursting the galling bonds. With the reservation now stated, and speaking generally of this second volume, we should look in vain for a better history of the late eventful year. The chapter on Poland has a present interest, which recom- mends it to particular attention. The following extract shows how the Great Powers viewed the position of that country in 1814. It also seems to point out their duty in 1831, when, after seventeen years' experience that " the political freedom of the Poles" has not been respected by the liberal ALExArnma—that the "na- tional institutions which it was the intention of that Monarch to grant" are not granted—the "national existence" is staked upon the issue of a contest with Ar..iournoitu's successor, maintained by the Poles at fearful odds. "The Great Powers of the Congress, before they proceeded to their allotments of territory, appointed a statistical commission to take an in- ventory of all the conquests which they had made from Napoleon ; and consequently of all the spoils which they had to distribute among them- selves, or restore to their former owners. They found that this inventory gave them 31,751,639 souls to dispose of,,inPoland,Germany, the Nether..
1 ands, on the Rhine, and in Italy. It did not occur to them, that in de- stroying the tyrannical appropriations of the conqueror whom therhad overthrown, they ought to have consulted the habits, feelings, and hap- piness of nations, by restoring them to liberty, and giving them the independent management of their own affairs. " The British plenipotentiary, Lord Castlereagh, on this occasion at least showed himself the true representative of British feelings. He knew the abhorrence with which the different partitions of Poland had been viewed in this country ; he knew the importance attached by English statesmen to this first great breach of international law; he knew the ardent desires expressed in Parliament, in society, and throueli the press, to see the independence of Poland restored, not only as an act of justice to that gallant people, but as a harrier against the encroachments of Russia on the West of Europe. He therefore demanded, in the name of England, that this celebrated kingdom should be re-established ; and though on many other points at this congress he was either a mistaken or a lukewarm expounder of the national will, on this he appeared both its enlightened and zealous advocate. The archives of the Congress contain evidence of his perfect appreciation of the nature of the question, and his sincere desire to effect so great an act of justice, liberality, and policy. ' It was England's wish, said his Lordship, 'to see some inde- pendent power established in Poland, as a separation between the three great empires of Europe.' His Lordship was supported by Prince Talley- rand, the French plenipotentiary ; who observed with great justice, force, and truth, in a letter to Prince Metternich, dated December 19, 1814,
that, of all the questions to be discussed at this Congress, he considered the affair of Poland as incomparably the most important to the interests of Europe, if there be any chance that that nation, so worthy of regard for its antiquity, its valour, its misfortunes, and the services which it has formerly rendered to Europe, might be restored to complete independence. The partition which destroyed its existence was the prelude, in some measure the cause, perhaps even to a certain extent the apology, for the subse- quent commotions to which Europe has been exposed. The Austrian Government was so far from wishing to see the Grand Duchy either again partitioned or united with Russia, that it was willing to surrender even a portion of its own territory to establish it into an independent kingdom. On the other hand, the Emperor of Russia, though he had previously founded the Holy Alliance, from which fighting for territorial aggrandise- ment was excluded, insisted that the duchy should be united with his empire, and opposed the restoration of Poland under an independent dynasty of its own. Unhappily, the troops of his Imperial Majesty at that time occupied the territory in dispute ; and his power had been too well proved in the war which had just terminated, to render it advisable to recommence hostilities to drive them out, even for the most righteous of all objects. By an adroitness and finesse of which he possessed so large a share, the Emperor riot only contrived to defeat the expressed wishes of England and France, but to make the Poles them- selves accomplices in their own continued subjugation. He had an- nounced, more than two years before, his intention of forming a kingdom of Poland, dependent on Russia, as one of the means of gaining the zealous support of the Poles against Napoleon, and had even given orders to draw up a constitution for the Polish provinces which had been in- corporated with his empire. These promises he still contined to repeat to the most distinguished Polish patriots—among the rest, to the illustrious Rosciuszko himself—and by that means gained their confidence. They would thus have all that they desired, or could hope to attain—a na- tional existence and a free constitution. The Poles of the Duchy of Warsaw easily believed in engagements so solemnly made and so fre- quently repeated to their brethren of the dismembered provinces; and when a prospect arose that Europe might not acquiesce in thepretensions of Russia, the Grand Duke Constantine, in order to continue the delu- sion, addressed them, in the name of his brother, as their protector and their friend. His Imperial Highness hurried from the Congress of Vienna to Warsaw, and, in a proclamation published the 11th of December, called upon the Poles 'to rally round the standard of their august pro- tector, to arm for the defence of their country and the preservation of their political existence."The utmost that could be done by the British and French plenipotentiaries in this state of things, without incurring the dangers and expense of a new war, was to enter a solemn protest in fa- vour of Poland, and to engage the Emperor of Russia, who then pro- fessed liberal sentiments, to respect the national existence and political freedom of the Poles. His Lordship earnestly requested the Sovereigns, on whom the fate of Poland depended, not to leave Vienna till they pledged themselves that the Poles in their respective dominions, under whatever form of government they might think proper to place them, should still be treated as Poles.'
"The Sovereigns in question readily concurred in these views. The Emperor Alexander declared, that he considered that no power could guarantee the universal repose of Europe, like that principle of cohesion which arises from the attachment of a people for their native land, and from their consciousness of wellbeing ; and that such were the bonds by which he hoped to attach the Poles placed under his government to his empire.' The Government of Prussia made a similar engagement ; and the Emperor of Austria, more liberal than his two imperial and royal fellow- partitioners on this occasion, declared the re-establishment of Poland as an independent state, with a national representation of its own, would have accomplished all his wishes ; and that he would have been willing to snake the greatest sacrifices to promote the restoration of that ancient and beneficial arrangement.' His Imperial Majesty added, that he con- curred with the liberal views of the Emperor Alexander, and approved of the national institutions which it was the intention of that monarch to grant to the Polish nation.' " We are tempted to give another extract from the Retrospect, for its vigorous handling of our home politics. First, we have a rapid but distinct sketch of the state of partiet at the meeting of Parlia- ment in October last.
"The state of political parties at the opening of the new Parliament, it is difficult to describe or to classify. The settlement of the Catholic question by the Ministry, with the assistance of the Whigs, and against the views and remonstrances of a great portion of the Tories, who had usually supported them, had broken to pieces the former cast of parties, and no definite arrangement of the scattered fragments had yet been formed. The latter could not be immediately brought back to the Go- vernment and rallied round it, as on any slight or temporary estrange- ment. The pride of some had been too deeply wounded by the desertion of their leaders—by the betrayal of their confidence—and the preserva- tion of the secret of the intended change, till the Minister brought the enemy into the camp. The habitual associations of others had been too rudely torn asunder by striking the flag of intolerance, which had so long waved over their heads in Parliamentary majorities and party festi- vities. And, perhaps, the better feelings and more solemn convictions of a large body of them had been alarmed at dangerous concessions—which they ascribed to fear ; or at an apparent surrender of principles—which they attributed to interested apostacy. It was therefore known that this party would still maintain that hostility to the Ministers which had been produced by their former differences. Some of them had approached nearer the popular cause, and others had actually declared themselves Reformers, in consequence of their treatment by the Administration, and the adoption of measures by Parliament which they deemed so pernicious. In finding an additional argument for Reform in the conduct of the House of Commons on this occasion, they agreed with a great body of the. public ; for it cannot be denied, that if the measure had been less une- quivocally good, or had been less illustrated by repeated discussion, the hold stratagems and profound secrecy, so inconsistent with the open course of a representative government, which had been employed, and the rapid change of a minority into a majority at the dictation of a Mi- nister, would have rendered it one of the most dangerous and discredit- able projects ever carried through the Legislature, and consequently have furnished the strongest arguments for a change in the representation. On the other hand, the party who had supported the Government in pass- ing the Catholic Bill had subsequently been treated with tco much cold- ness and suspicion by the Ministers to remain their firm allies. The Whigs had allowed them to go on by sufferance ; they had expected a call to aid them, but had been disappointed ; they hoped during the lifetime of the late I;ing for some attempt at amalgamation, but without much confidence that it would succeed, owing to the prejudices which his Ma-. jesty was known to entertain against their leaders. The new reign, under which these prejudices did not exist, presented another opportunity of effecting a coalition of parties ; but still no desire of sharing office with their rivals was manifested by the noble Duke at the head of the Adminis- tration and his colleagues. Seeing, then, that his Grace meant to remain in power, and to rule alone under the new Sovereign as under the last, withoutany change of system or any mixture of party, they began to de- clare loudly their dissatisfaction."
Then there is an animated account of the breaking up of the Duke of WELLINGTON'S Cabinet, and the appointment of Earl GREY'S. The author is severe, but we do not say unjust, to Lord BROUGHAM.
"The formation of the Ministry, expeditious as it was, was said to have been embarrassed and delayed by the conduct of the chief Opposi- tion leader in the House of Commons, who had overturned the previous Cabinet. Desirous of place, but equally desirous of the reputation of despising it ; devoured with the flames of ambition, but covering his am- bition with the veil of self-denial ; resolved to have the highest prize in his profession or none, and yet allowing it to be supposed that be would decline it if offered ; formidable to his friends by his reputed indiscre- tion, and more formidable to his enemies by the activity of his talents; almost equally dangerous to be obliged or to be neglected ; indulging in the wanton caprice of a power which he knew was now necessary to any Ministerial arrangement, and yet shrinking from a declaration of his owe claims to preferment—he rendered doubtful for some days the success of Lord Grey's Ministerial negotiations. His friends admitted his import- ance to the extent of doing nothing without his concurrence, because his opposition might be dangerous to the stability of their structure ; but they could not at first consent to place him on its highest pinnacle, be- cause he would present too broad a mark for their enemies to fire at. In pretending to weigh the representation of Yorkshire against the Great Seal, he only resolved to retain the former because he was not pressed to take the latter ; and employed the menace of a Reform in the House of Commons, to stimulate the Premier to call him out of it. His irresistible energy in exposing the last Ministry, in Parliament, at public meetings, and through the press, had, combined with events, been one of the chief causes of their overthrow ; and it was concluded that no other Ministry could withstand his opposition. The alleged defects of his character, as regarded judgment, steadiness, or profound knowledge of his profession, were properly appreciated by every body : but the energy and capacity of his mind were traced in such a wide range of action—lie had done so much in diffusing education, encouraging science, pressing legal reform, and defending the rights and liberties of his fellow-citizens—his name- was so often seen in connexion with literature, politics, forensic and Par- liamentary eloquence—he was so universally feared or admired for the withering power of his sarcasm, and the overwhelming force of his de- clamation—and by all these means he had acquired so great a popularity, that no set of Ministers, coming in on popular principles, could dispense with his aid, or encounter his hostility. As soon as he was offered and had accepted the seals, the Cabinet was formed. In three hours after Lord Grey and his colleagues had had their nominations formally sanc- tioned by his Majesty, his Lordship made a speech in the House of Peers,. in which he declared that the principles of his government should be eco- nomy and retrenchment at home, non-intervention with the internal. affairs of other states, and a reform in the Commons House of Parlia- ment. The announcement of principles so opposite to those hitherto- acted upon, produced the happiest effect on the temper of the nation. Satisfaction and confidence everywhere succeeded to suspicion, discon- tent, and alarm. All parties seemed disposed to give the new Cabinet credit for their good intentions, and waited with impatience—but without dis- trust—for the development of their plans."
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