The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-31 00:00:00

■ 294 "and incapable Administration" with those of the nat on. The nation is sound. On no occas . on hai England shown a higher spirit, the possession of more abundant resources, or a deeper and more eiheore apptkiation of to value and character 01 ker nat t i ra i ally. id' these circumstances She dust final ctlitsolatirni and future success. At all events .d the taskrn plastisu" is not understood by the peerpie. It is tike out bf the mere domain of dreamy pamphleteers and political charlatans. Its solution is recog nised in the reduction of the Russian empire in the South ; and no war with that Power for the vindication of political equilibriums will be again permitted that has not this consum mation for its avowed and inexorable end. THE POLISH QUESTION. MR. PHINN'S resolution on the affairs of Poland received from Parliament exactly the treat ment which it deserved—patient attention to a vigorous and instructive speech by the mover— silence and neglect, approaching contempt, for the idle and unpractical motion. We say unpractical, not merely with reference to the particular time selected. Everyone knows that the reconstitution of the Polish kingdom is not a topic which could be submitted, with any prospect of success, to the Conference now holding at Vienna. In fact, the assump tion on which Mr. PHINN's argument rested was the prospective failure of existing nego tiations ; un assumption certainly premature, and, we incline to hope, unfounded. But, granting that the war continues, what can be done—what ought to be done—for Poland ? To solve the problem here proposed, one of two conditions must first be assumed. Either we are to break with Austria entirely—a new phase of ihe European difficulty, and one which most Englishmen would be loth to con template—or the consent of Austria to the restoration is taken for granted—a hypothesis on which only the most sanguine of reformers can speculate with confidence. No empire has ever voluntarily reduced its territories, except under the extremest pressure of neces sity. National pride forbids it—the feelings of the people revolt against it—no Govern ment is strong enough, even in a despotic country, to defy a popular sentiment so deep rooted, and so universal—least of all is a young, warlike, and aspiring monarch likely to submit to the dismemberment of his do minions, solely out of motives of policy, and without being pressed upon by any compelling force. " But," it is argued. " the fear of " Russian aggression will induce Austria to " concur in even greater sacrifices, if by so " doing she may set up a barrier against " attack from the eastward." But what has Austria to be afraid of ? She does not stand alone. As against Russian invasion, the jealousy of England, of France, and, in a less degree, of Prussia also, effectually secure her. All the great Powers have an interest in keeping the map of Europe intact ; nor do Austrian and Russian notions of government differ so widely as to render a quarrel probable, except on the ground of territorial aggression. Nor is this all. The principle of nationality, as a basis of independence, lies at the root of the Polish question. That principle is one which Austria more than any other Power is interested in combating. Applied to Poland, it will be pleaded on behalf of Hungary and Lombardy—pleaded with logical justice, and supported by the weight of a practical and recent precedent. The consent, therefore, of Austria to restore her share of Poland is not within the sphere of reasonable political cal culation ; but if her Polish provinces be retained, how can she in common prudence agree to the setting up of a Polish empire at her very doom—an empire of which the first object and desire must he the recovery of its ancient limits, and the restored freedom of all its former subjects? The same arguments, it is needless to observe, apply to Prussia. It • Ishii al *t.4 44,r... 'J144 : 1)1 , 4 7 ;t/' , THE PRESS. follows, therefore, that war for the indepen dence of Poland is war waged by England and France against the whole of Eastern Europe. Nay, it is an impossibility, be the ret , perations what it 114 t of c, l (e ji - e terms origin 1 td humanity forbi e who, if unsucc ful, c of of war, and whos enge, i: ld, if unsuccessf be p f :his is no light sidertition the British armies withdrew line of retreat was everywhere _ _ most frightful maw sacres of those natives whom fear or preference had attached to the cause of the invaders. In France, after the campaign of Waterloo, the adherents of NAPOLEON had ample cause to repent of their devotion to the fallen con queror. And in Spain, as province after pro vince became relieved from the pressure of French armies, the unsparing retribution in flicted on the "Afrancesados" by their patriot countrymen is recorded in the pages of NAPtsit. Once, then, that the Polish cause is t Ikea up, there can be no hesitation, no drawing back ; the war must be universal and internecine—Russia must crush England, or England Russia. We confess ourselves not to be among the number of those philosophers who can contemplate such a prospect with calm approval, solacing themselves with the idea that the condition of humanity 100 years hence will be benefitted by the struggle. But let us go a little deeper into the ques tion. Which form of government do the liberators of Poland propose there to set up ? Not a republic. Englishmen do not much believe in republics on this side the Atlantic, and the Emperor NAPOLEON has seen enough of them at home. Not a despotism ; that would be a lame conclusion indeed to our glorious efforts in the cause of freedom. Well, then, a constitutional monarchy it must be; although somehow constitutional monarchies have not hitherto flourished on the Continent. Spain has not been a successful experiment in that line—nor yet Greece; and Greece, by the way, furnishes the nearest parallel to the future Poland; for it is admitted on all hands that native jealousy would compel the selec tion of a foreigner to fill the throne. But what will the Polish patriots say to such an arrangement ? All refugees have a way of quarrelling among themselves—it is a sad, but not singular effect of misfortune and in action combined—but the Polish emigration has contrived to acquire even an exceptional reputation for incompatibility of opinion among its members. Many are republicans; made so, perhaps, by the prevalent absence of sym pathy for their wrongs among other classes of politicians ; many, by lapse of years, have become little more than adventurers, without home or country ; some are domesticated abroad, neither expecting nor wishing to return ; neaily all, by absence and time, have lost whatever hold they may once have pos sessed over the minds of their countrymen. Doubtless in Poland there are many whose long-continued submission to Russian rule has only confirmed their patriotism, without destroying their capacity of self-government; but are these the rule, or the exception ? In dealing with the wrongs of nations, we must not forget that time enters as an element into the calculation. Eternal resentment and undying constancy are found only in the pages of novels. Some parts of Poland have been Russian since 1772. What reminiscences of the past freedom can there survive, except in the form of antiquarian tradition ? The consti tutional government of ALEXANDER lasted but a little while ; at his death, only the shadow of it remained : since 1826, Poland has known only the anarchy of civil bloodshed, or the stagnation of despotism. There is not in existence a young Pole who has exercised in his own land the rights of free citizenship. Are these promising materials for a revived nationality ? Yet further—what was the state of Poland, socially and politically, in its days of greatest prosperity? Take the testimony of friends and advocates. The Westminster Review in an article of this year, written ex pressly to promote the cause of Polish nation ality, describes the " populus " of the country, i. e. the privileged class, exercising political SATURDAY, rights, as composed of " some hundreds of " thousands of large and small landholders, " the remainderof the nation lying underneath " these, of ; mass of most " filthy ridit;.• ~,. •V g, eating, drinking, " oleo i and d Asiuredly a model com ! A £ll4l. nol t A il' ELI' partisan, Cou n t KRA sbuji in n, p hlet not lo ng ago pub I edi thu de b e ruling class:— " Au bligdfehy, mbled no species of " arivacy known in this world, and which " had thii . Pculiari ty, that instead of indirectly " supporting the Throne, and at the same time " checking its abuses, it unceasingly sapped " its foundation, to the detriment of the " nation, intrigued abroad against every Polish " Government, and had nothing so much at " heart as the abasement of its rivals and its " own elevation." Space fails us to show how exactly this remarkable description is borne out by the history of the nation to which it applies. But one other obstacle to the projected restoration may be suggested—that of mili tary weakness. If Russian Poland alone be raised into a monarchy, Austria and Prussia being consenting parties, the total population will fall short of twenty millions, who, without a defensible frontier (a point in such case of no slight moment), must hold their own as they can against the forty millions of Russia. If the entire kingdom of the last century be reconstituted, no doubt its numerical strength becomes greater; but in that ease the hostility of Austria and Prussia, as well as of Russia, must be guarded against. The new empire alone could not hold its own ; for protection against the three military monarchies it could look only to its founders, France and England; whence, for us, a new system of continental alliances, the necessity of maintaining a vast standing army in time of peace, and the perpetual probability of a quarrel in which no English interest was involved. We have said nothing of the internal dis sensions of independent Poland, of the fierce religious quarrels, the intolerance on all sides displayed, the factions which divided the nobles, the miserable slavery which weighed down the peasants. the want of foresight and public spirit exhibited by all classes. These things form part of the history of Europe; but it is only the necessity of protesting against a Quixotic enterprise that could lead us to recal public attention to faults so long forgotten, and so cruelly expiated. THE CRIMEAN RECKONING. Tan cumulative and criminating testimony against the late Government is becoming perfectly appalling. A journalist who peruses the Sebastopol evidence with a view to ana lysis, and who comes upon such charges as have been wrung from reluctant witnesses during the past week, hesitates over the terms which naturally apply to the guilt described, and, recollecting that the accused persons await a yet more formal and formidable inves tigation, is inclined, from the very magnitude of the offence, to adopt an arid, passionless phraseology. Yet the common instinct of humanity renders it difficult, in the presence of such damnatory detail, to preserve that tone which befits the preliminary stage of the inquiry. It is with no surprise that we, in common with our contemporaries, receive in cessant communications in which a just and righteous indignation of the people breaks forth in demand that the brand of guilt, amply earned, shall be at once affixed. Still it, is well that the inquiry should pursue and com plete its fatal course. There is no fear lest En land should forget her army of martyrs. We said, last week, that the disclosures of the present one would, as revelations of me lancholy wickedness, probably exceed even anything that had already been elicited. How promptly that anticipation was fulfilled let the evidence taken on Tuesday tell. The first witness on that day was an Assistant-Surgeon, FLOWER, who deposed to the murder of the 1 war *nee der sult, tif ni ty oi eepliig led an th I.; itlf lion ,ana dertion Allies i)t cl fh th fights a in taii eyn itt wouh Led as MO Oft. T] L. Wheh, 1841, t from Cab their li re marked q the m ~~ I