, be as much excited amongst these descriptions of men in
England as in any other country, and that they are just as capable of
acting a part in any great change.

[Sidenote: Progress of the French spirit.--Its course.]

What direction the French spirit of proselytism is likely to take, and
in what order it is likely to prevail in the several parts of Europe, it
is not easy to determine. The seeds are sown almost everywhere, chiefly
by newspaper circulations, infinitely more efficacious and extensive
than ever they were. And they are a more important instrument than
generally is imagined. They are a part of the reading of all; they are
the whole of the reading of the far greater number. There are thirty of
them in Paris alone. The language diffuses them more widely than the
English,--though the English, too, are much read. The writers of these
papers, indeed, for the greater part, are either unknown or in contempt,
but they are like a battery, in which the stroke of any one ball
produces no great effect, but the amount of continual repetition is
decisive. Let us only suffer any person to tell us his story, morning
and evening, but for one twelvemonth, and he will become our master.

All those countries in which several states are comprehended under some
general geographical description, and loosely united by some federal
constitution,--countries of which the members are small, and greatly
diversified in their forms of government, and in the titles by which
they are held,--these countries, as it might be well expected, are the
principal objects of their hopes and machinations. Of these, the chief
are Germany and Switzerland; after them, Italy has its place, as in
circumstances somewhat similar.

[Sidenote: Germany.]

As to Germany, (in which, from their relation to the Emperor, I
comprehend the Belgic Provinces,) it appears to me to be, from several
circumstances, internal and external, in a very critical situation; and
the laws and liberties of the Empire are by no means secure from the
contagion of the French doctrines and the effect of French intrigues, or
from the use which two of the greater German powers may make of a
general derangement to the general detriment. I do not say that the
French do not mean to bestow on these German states liberties, and laws
too, after their mode; but those are not what have hitherto been
understood as the laws and liberties of the Empire. These exist and have
always existed unde