The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The echo of a voice from Russia has
mingled with the cries and shrieks which reach us
from unhappy Poland. Both sides proclaim their
resolutions to the world. The Poles are harried,
driven, scourged, and massacred by their Muscovite
masters, but they will not give up the contest. Their
very women are now marched off in gangs to hope-
less exile in the wilds of Siberia. The present
tactics of the Russians express the most ruthless
use of brute force which it is possible to conceive,
but the Poles defy their exterminators to the last.
They fly to their forests, and maintain a struggle
which has at least the effect of preventing a pacifi-
cation and keeping open a European sore. But the
Russians, though placed in the wrong and threat-
ened with contingent retribution, unhesitatingly
accept their position. They continue their work of
desolation, and tell the friends of Poland to do their
worst. They reject interference, and make ready
for war. They are not even at the pains to depre-
cate hostilities. " Come on, if you will," is their
reply to the menaces of indignant Europe. They
are not given to gasconade, and their intentions are
quietly expressed ; but Cronstadt is bristling with
cannon, and half-a-dozen Sebastopols are ready for
an enemy in the Gulf of Finland. Right or wrong,
the Russians mean fighting, and, as "A Voice from
Russia" delares to us, will fight to the last. We
have not the least reason to doubt the sincerity of
that declaration. Our readers may think as they
will about the excuses offered for the atrocities of
Military Governors, and the credit claimed for poli-
tical moderation, but the spirit of the Russians
cannot be questioned. The Czar has his people
with him. They look at the rebellion of the Poles
exactly as the Americans of the Northern States
look at the revolt of the South. It is an ungrateful
and wicked insurrection against one of the best-
intentioned Governments in the world. The Poles
have " really had but little to complain of;" the
Emperor " would decidedly have given them every
advantage they could wish for," and has always
"liberally treated them." Nor are these asset.•
tions quite so ironical as the seem. On
the single condition of true allegiance the Poles
might probably have had all they could ask either
from Alexander or Nicholas. If they would but
have consented to become Russians, and sink their
original nationality in the nationality of a Slavonic
empire, the best things in that empire might pro-
bably have been theirs. All their sufferings from
the first war to the last conscription are traceable to
their antipathy to the Union. They stood out stub•
bornly for their own country, their own name, their
own language, and their own political individuality.
They would never be good subjects, and so they
were treated as bad ones. The object of the Czars
was to absorb and amalgamate Poland, and turn it
into so much more Russia. The determination of
the Poles was to remain Poles for ever, to spurn
the advances of their conquerors, and watch for the
chance of freedom. As fair means did no good with
them, foul means were tried, and the Russians, in
the hope of extinguishing their refractory spirit,
oppressed them till they rebelled once more. Europe
has interfered, but to no good purpose. It is an un-
happy illustration of the weakness of moral influ-
ence, but the fact is plain. Russia will have none
of our meddling. She rejects it as America rejects
it, and warns us off at our peril. She has the ad-
vantage, too, of knowing her own mind, and being
prepared for the worst. We are told plainly that
defeats would not dismay her. She might experi-
ence reverses at first, but she knows how to endure
such things, and keep time on her side. She is not
to be beat with a campaign or two, however bril-
liant for her enemies. " We Russians can wait, and
wait patiently." That such is the general feeling
of the nation we do not doubt. Russia has got Po-
land, -and intends to keep it, not only against the
Poles themselves, but against all corners in their
favour. How far she could succeed may be another
question, but she will not yield an inch except to
force. In the meantime she is prosecuting the war
against the insurgents with relentless severity.
Our correspondent himself does net deny this ;
he merely justifies the policy. It cannot be helped,
he says, nor, upon the conditions he assume,p, do we
suppose it can. Russia is making the work as short
as possible, so that before the friends of Poland
can again interfere the Poles may be destroyed.
The misfortune, too, is the t in interfering to stop
these proceedings we could take no ground that was
at once tenable and serviceable. We had a right of
appeal to the Treaties of Vienna, but the most regor-
ous observance of these Treaties would have given
no satisfaction to the Poles. They cared nothing
for the arrangements of 1815. If the three Powers
had obtained every one of their demands, the end
would have been as far off as ever. The Poles have
rejected the expedient of a Constitution, and boldly
claimed an independent nationality. They extend
these claims, indeed, beyond all expectation. Like
the Confederates in America, who want Kentucky
and Maryland while they can barely hold their own
in Mississippi and Tennessee, the Poles assert their
title to provinces which, perhaps, were never Polish.
So singularly, in the political vicissitudes of 'ages,
were races in these countries blended, that it would
require a good ethnologist to say where Polish ter-
ritory ended or Russian territory began. One of
the latest acts of the National Government has been
to claim for Poland certain States which an impar-
tial historian might possibly assign to Russia. The
Emperor Alexander would be quite as much justi-
fied as Mr. Seward in declaring that it was impossi-
ble to draw any such line of demarcation as the
insurgents demanded. It is a sad story, but it is
too likely to have an end. We sympathise with
Poland, because Poland was wickedly partitioned,
because the Poles are really fighting for their own,
because they have cherished the memory of their
rights with unexampled devotion, and have con-
tended for them with heroic courage. There is
hardly a man in this kingdom who would not avow
his private opinion that the reconstitution of Poland
would be a righteous act. But England will not go
to war in this cause, and Russia tells us, in lan-
guage not to be mistaken, that if we will not go
to war, and fight that war out " to the bitter end,"
we had better hold our tongues. She tells us, what
we do not believe, that the insurrection is the work
of foreign agitators, practising on a tubulent minority
of the population ; but she tells us also, what we
cannot contradict, that a few weeks will see the end
of it, and that her proceedings will restore peace to
Poland far more quickly than the proceedings of a
Congress. What kind of peace this will be we need
not ask, but Russia answers for the result, and in
the meantime she prepares herself for any possible
penalty. The Emperor declares his resolution, and
the people not on'y back him, but go beyond him.
They will hold Poland, and in their own way, at
any cost. They will face invasion and endure de-
feat, but they will allow no meddling with their
affairs. Whatever Poland may cost them, either in
subduing the Poles or repulsing Europe, they are
ready to accept the bargain. At this moment they
are incurring extraordinary expenses and lavishing
millions upon iron-cased frigates, monster cannon,
and other appliances of modern warfare. Their
minds are made up, and, after quenching in blood
the last sparks of Polish nationality, they will be
prepared to meet all who may call them to account
for the deed. We say again that the story is a
terrible one, but our interference in the matter has
done no good as yet, and it would not be likely to
do any good hereafter,
POST.—The sentence of the Court of Inquiry held
under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act,
in the case of the Cunard steamer Africa, which was
stranded on the coast of Newfoundland on the 12th
ultimo, has cansea a good deal of local excitement,
and led
The
a discussion of considerable public import-
ance: rhe facts of this case are few, and such as
admit of no misapprehension. On a dark and hazy,
but not foggy, October night, the Africa, being then
on her outward passage, struck on a rock off Cape
Race. Captain Stone, who was in command of the
ship, was himself on the look-out when the accident
occurred, and had been so all through the evening.
Fortunately the vessel sustained but little injury,
no lives were lost, and she returned to Liverpool at
her appointed time. There, however, Captain Stone
was cited to appear before a Court of Inquiry, and
after a patient and particular investigation of the
circumstances his certificate was ordered to be sus-
pended for six months. The Court found that
Capain Stone had depended for information as to
the course the ship was taking upon his own know-
ledge and experience, instead of ascertaining, its
the Court held he ought to have done, what his
position really was by using the lead, and, conse-
quently, that the stranding of the vessel was occa-
sioned by a culpable want of caution on his part.
Now, it appears that Captain Stone stands high
among the captains of the Cunard line, and not
without reason. He has been twenty years in the
service, during the last fifteen of which he has
been a master ; and he has made two hundred and
thirty passages across the Atlantic without ever
losing a ship, or getting a vessel,while in his charge,
ashore. That there should be a warm expression of
sympathy with such a man is not at all surprising.
But there is more than this. The Mercantile
Marine Service Association at Liverpool has taken
the matter up, and pronounced an opinion adverse,
not only to the decision of the Court of Inquiry
which tried Captain Stone, but to the constitution
and jurisdiction of all Courts of Inquiry held under
the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act. They
are not only going to appeal against the suspension
of Captam Stone's certificate, but to take some steps
to procure a change in the law establishing tribu-
nals which are, they say, funda-
mentalopposed to the
petitionthe interests te
to retshts;ießfode
mercantile o
principles of the British Constitution, and
intheiropemraatrioinne. prejudicial to
Further,
a
of Trade, in which these views are again urged and
expressed has been signed by a great number of

the merchants, shipowners, and other inhabitants
of Liverpool. The captains of the Cunard line
have also held an indignation meeting, and their
out-spoken, up-standing adherence to a brother
officer in misfortune does them very much honour.
As might be expected, they defend Captain Stone
without reserve, and loudly maintain that it is
slovenly and not bold seamanship that loses ships.
This: may be, and we have no doubt is, in
some respects true ; still the public, we appre-
hend, will continue to prefer the happy combi-
nation of prudence and courage which has hitherto
so favourably distinguished the commanders of this
well-known line; and we are glad to notice that
the senior captain in the service strongly recom-
mends the placing of a fog whistle at Cape Race.
The assertion, coming from an experienced sea-
man, that such a whistle, which could be heard
at a distance of twelve miles, deserves attention,
though it does not fit in with Captain Stone's
statement that the evening of the 12th of October
was dark and hazy, but not foggy. It is a pity
that Captain Judkins spoilt a useful suggestion by
hinting that our Government was disinclined to
introduce the fog whistle because it is an American
invention. This was very silly, for the idea is
altogether too absurd to be entertained. There
are, therefore, two objections taken to the sen -
tepee passed on the captain of the Africa, and it
is very desirable to keep them as far apart as is
possible. In behalf of Captain Stone it is argued
that if he neglected any proper precaution, and
many of his supporters deny that he did, the
error, if error it was, would have been abundantly
provided against for the future by a private caution.
But the real objections to the proceedings of the
Court of Inquiry are, first, that in this particular
case no public investigation was necessary ; next,
that in all cases an investigation conducted by per-
sons who may or may not be competent to exercise
the irresponsible power lodged in their hands, and
who have in some instances exhibited a complete
ignorance of nautical matters, is at once a griev-
ous professional hardship and a mockery of com-
mon justice. This we can understand; and there
is in this country a powerful and, to a certain
extent, a very wholesome objection to any legis-
lative interference with private enterprise. To
any general recognition of the principle which we
have partially introduced in the inspection of fac-
tories, and railways, and nuisances—to anything,
that is to say, at all resembling the Continental
system of Governmental protection—there would be
a widespread and overwhelming resistance. But
there is much to be said on the other side, and much
that is relevant to this case. We know how the
American clippers rush over the ocean through no
matter how dense a fog, with their steam all up,
and every stitch of canvas set, and we discern, even
in the speeches of our Cunard captains a rather
ominous predilection for New York notions. There
really must, then, be some restraint imposed upon
the fast ideas of merchants and shipowners; there
must be some security taken by the Government of
the country on the part of people who have to travel
in steamers and railways ; there must be some form
of investigation, some sort of inquiry. Indepen-
dence is one thing, and the absence of all supervision
another. At the same time, there certainly is no
power that ought to be employed with more discre-
tion than this that takes upon itself the duty of
providing for the public safety ; and if it can be
shown that the Courts of Inquiry appointed by the
Merchant Shipping Act are open to the objections
now raised against them, let us see how they can
be amended. If they are arbitrary, or ignorant, or
incapable—if their constitution is incompatible
with their object—there can be no difficulty, we
hope, in coming to a better understanding with our
shipowners and captains without surrendering
guarantees which the Legislature has wisely
established.