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THE

WESLEYAN METHODIST ASSOCIATION

MAGAZINE,

FOR

1857.

The right of private judgment in the reading of the Sacred Volume.

VOLUME THE TWENTIETH.

LONDON:

MATTHEW BAXTER, ASSOCIATION BOOK ROOM,
5, HORSESHOE COURT, LUDGATE HILL.

MDCCCLVII.

214

T. C. JOHNS, PRINTER,

WINE OFFICE COURT, FLEET STREET.

WESLEYAN METHODIST ASSOCIATION

MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1857.

SHADOWS OF THE PAST, DAWNINGS OF THE FUTURE.

No. I.

THE past year has been eminently eventful. It dawned upon one of the most bloody struggles in which nation ever was engaged, between the Western Powers on the one hand, and the Military Despotism of Russia on the other. After desperate efforts on either side, in which the sea was crowded with Fleets and the land with troops; after the most bloody havoc in the Crimea, and a fearful drain on all the resources of the Empire of the Autocrat, Peace, so much desired by all the true friends of humanity was at length restored. But the ravages of War were not confined to one side in this dire conflict. The Victors suffered more in this than the vanquished in other struggles. Of Three hundred thousand troops sent out by France during the War, the number brought again to their native land, was less than Two hundred and thirty thousand; while out of One hundred thousand British soldiers who performed such prodiges of valour at Alma, at Balaclava, at Inkerman-in the Trenches, and on the heights of Sebastopol, not more than Seventy thousand were seen under arms at the close of the War. And it is melancholy to reflect, that all this horrible sacrifice of life and of property might have been averted if that haughty individual, who swayed the destinies of Russia, at the origin of the unhappy complication in Eastern affairs, had evinced, even the slightest respect for human Rights and the Independence of Nations. War, indeed, is a blind business, whether considered in the causes in which it originates, or the consequences which it involves. The vanity of a Minister of Statethe cupidity of a Monarch-the indiscretion of a General in the Army-the fiery temper of a Captain in the Navy, or the ridiculous officiousness of some impersonation of insignificance in the Consular service, often involves the sacrifice of lives by thousands, and of treasure by millions-not to mention the creation of national antipathies the interruption of commercial pursuits-the destruction of property, and the retardation of nations in their march of Improvement. And for what beneficial results have such evils been endured in the present instance? Has Hungarian Independence, as some sanguinely anticipated, been revived in 1856 under fairer auspices than in 1848 ? Has Poland recovered her liberties, and escaped from the talons of the two great eagles of the North? Has Italy been relieved of the iron hoof of Austrian Despotism, or France reaped the fruits of her last great struggle against the absolute sway of her "Citizen King" in the enlarged freedom of her people? Alas! No. The only objects

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