The Express.
London, England, 1863-02-28 00:00:00

HIGH WATER. AT LONDON DRIDSZ.

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LONDON. SATURDAY, PEBRUARY 28.

Ma. POPS Hammer stated the case of Poland
to the House last evening with remarkable dear-
neas and cogency. He dwelt, as all the succeed• ,
in speakers did, on the violation of the engage-
ments which Russia had undertaken towards
Poland under the Treaty of Vienna; and trans- ,
forming the fact of this violation demanded " the
" interposition of England in vindication of her I
" own public faith and solemn engagements."
This, as the concluding paragraph of an Address
to the Crown, was, to say the least, a very strong
interpretation of the fact that Russia had broken
her engagements, and the House, which had
unanimously assented to Mr. HENNESSY'S propo-
sitions, was hardly prepared, not only to lay the
guilt of Russia to the charge of England, but to
consider the honour of England at stake in the
violation of Russian engagements. It was, how-
ever, to our thinking, putting too fine a point on
Mr. HENNESSY'S emphatic representations to con-
sider them as committing the House to war.
Besides, war is an alternative that should always
be reserved and never pronounced, as a final appeal
never probable though never impossible. Lord Psi-
inseams was at least more exact in his definition of
our position towards Russia and Poland under the
Treaty of Vienna when he said that we bad
"rights " but not " obligations "in the case. The
Passim was referring to technical obligations at
the moment. It was reserved for Mr. Disimzu to
vindicate with great emphasis the "moral oblige-
" tions " to which plenipotentiaries have so often
appeared insensible, and in Mr. DISRAELI'S care
Lord Psi axsarox may safely leave them.
The temper of the debate last evening was that of
men in earnest—equally temperate and firm; it was
a free expression of the feelings of the nation, and
it would >u become those who have faith in moral
force to doubt that the voice of the British Par-
liament is audible afar in the camps of patriots
and the courts of tyrants. One result of last night's
debate should be the renewal of confidence in the
preservation of the peace of Europe. Lord
PiLmmurrox in recommending the mover of the
Address to the Crown to be content with the
unanimous expression of feeling he had celled forth,
suggested the probability of a diplomatic interven-
tion on the part of France, Austria, and England ;
an intervention of good offices and good counsels
to the Russian Government, of sympathy and
support to the subsisting rights of Poland. The
Pants Myriam pointedly referred to the part
taken by Lord Csammason in the Treaty of
Vienna with regard to Poland ; when, as now, France,
Austria, and England were of one accord in desi-
ring the restoration of Polish independence. Mr.
DISRAELI laid great stress on the fact that Lord
C.

m (to whose memory, he said, poste-
rity did justice) had only abandoned the project of
restoring the political integrity of Poland, because
at that moment Russia was in a condition to im-
pose her own terms; whereas now France and
England are in a position of commanding autho-
rity, and Austria is waxing stronger every day,
while the military power of Russia is comparatively
shattered, and the whole governing system of that
Empire is in the throes of a social revolution.
Austria, by the bye, was held up to admiration
last evening, and not on the Tory benches only,
as if Cracow had never been incorporated, and the
massacres of the Galician nobles in 1846 were a
myth, and Venetia were a Paradise of content
Let bygones be bygones is a useful political
maxim, which for our part we could wish that
Austria would enable the friends of free nations
and righteous governments to adopt in her behalf.
Compared with Prussia, Austria is almost a liberal
power, and there is no doubt that at this moment
she is doing good service to the cause of peace.
Bat while Venetia is in torments and Hungary in
fetters, may not the Russian Government
see in the councils of Vienna an example
" immense ingratitude" rather than of
respect for right and justice f But the cause of
Poland is making many converts. If Mr. STANO-
?SSD gives his impassioned eloquence to
an oppressed nationality, Mr. SEYMOUR Firs-
°mato is no lees ardent in his denunciations of
tyranny, and his aspirations for the victory of an
insurgent people.

SIR F. Sierra received his apology last night
and declares himself satisfied ; but it was Mr.
REED who obtained the honours of the HOUSE.
Putting the SPEAKER and the Serjeant-at-Arms
in motion to procure the withdrawal of a hasty and
unimportant letter, is something like suing for a
debt of three-and-aixpenoe in the Court of Queen's
Beach. Mr. REED'S decisive and thorough-going
apology was a well-advised act ; and we only wish
that he may exhibit as much skill in building ships
as he has shown in extricating himself and the
House from an inconvenient situation.