The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-22 00:00:00

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SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

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TntEs.—ln all humanr affairs
Poland, g a r ue
the spt
wanhdicthhinpgersp. estuuttelhlyiss there is something
calculations and thepvtnilgs amfilateesthoef
people
t
toes
estimates
he laid, the burning bush o nationality,
that will not
. the sacred
fire of we know not what
When we have settled to ourp priesthood.
balance of power, the rights of conquest,satisfaction the
con-
flicting pretensions of legitimacy and constitutional
freedom, the interests of this or that portion
o 1.
h
civilised world, and the very great conveniencet ofe
keeping things just as they are, there rises up, un_
invited and unwelcome, yet not to be banished or
despised, the spectre of a race, or a cause, with a
thousand wrongs that can never be righted. Vain
are all attempts to deal with it by any of the methods
successful more or less in other cases. We have
recognised it in treaties, we have befriended it
in diplomacy, we have obtained for it the kindly
intention of Emperors, we have protested in its
behalf, and, flying from one mode of action to
another, we have finally made a clean breast of all
our hearts' longings for it; yet Poland still remains
the Poland of our youth, the Poland of our fathers
—nay, as the prying student of its annals would
have us believe, the Poland of all time; noble, gene-
rous, national, but utterly impricticable. But what
is that which remains the same for all time, a pure,
impalpable • essence, whose evil fate has cast it
among the rtblossal creations of earthly policy and
convenient wisdom ? The worst that can be said of
Poland—that it is as it always was—is its strongest
plea to the interests of those whose faith is not in
the greatest number of battalions. How are we to
deal with this more than strange element ? By the
genius of our own political system and by the tra-
ditions of our fathers we are bound to cherish our

deep interest for what we call an unfortunate race
That interest is part of ourselves, and is as inde.

structible as the race itself. It rises and rises
again with every fresh struggle on the part of its
object. No doubt this universal sympathy feeds
the vitality of Poland; and when Russia sends her
Governors and her legions thither, it is to quell,
not merely the conspiracies and risings of a few
millions on the spot, but the instincts of the whole
civilised world. So does Russia confess when
she alleges ihat Poland would be quiet enough
but for the foreigner, the universal Pole, who
is to be found everywhere. and who pours in
from all sides to countenance, to exasperate, to
assist, and to die. With the local substance Russia
is prepared to deal • it is the mighty shadow that
disconcerts and baffles her. But what is to be done,
when the Nestor who has taken part in every nego-
tion for Poland since diplomacy took the place of
arms can only claim to have secured a verbal ex-
pression of sympathy from all the nations of Europe
that can sympathise at all, and when Poland's best
and warmest friend can only pronounce a solemn

judgment on the futility of everything that has yet
been done ? It has all been good as far as it goes
the best in its kind that man could do ; but it has
been done and done in vain. Mr. Horsman describes
the Poland of diplomacy, and preaches a " vanity
of vanities" upon the long series of remonstrances,
from those of the proud Castlereagh to the last
effort of the irrepressible Palmerston. As one
tricked, cajoled, and unfairly beaten, Mr. Horsman
is for sweeping the board clean. The Treaty of
Vienna he reads as a man would read a compact
with the Arch Fiend, when he felt he could neither
dispute it nor stand upon its terms. It is the deed
by which Poland has been made over to Russia,
who with the juggler's trick of two alternate pleas,
benevolent intentions and actual conquest, dex-
terously contrived to. meet both present and future
reclamations. So Mr. Horsman treats the docu-
ment as a pitfall which history has proved worth-
less for good, and only powerful for evil. Russia
stands on both a prior and a subsequent conquest,
and only recognises the Treaty as a bond to
which she is ready to give her own interpretation
when Poland has ceased to fight, to act, and to
speak. Poland herself, too, has thrown away the
Treaty. She finds it worthless. What she is
struggling for is independence. Why, then,
asks Mr. Horsman, are the nations of Europe to
appeal to a bond virtually, if not actually, rejected
by both the parties chiefly concerned ? Let Poland
henceforth stand on the ground of Greece, of Italy,
of any noble race ground under the heel of the op-
pressor, trampled, torn, and broken to pieces. This
is his demand, and it is impossible not to read it as
a defiance to Russia which puts her on the level of
Turkey as regards Greece, and Austria as regards
Italy. It is the broad ground of a man who is sick of
a war of words. If the map of Europe is to be rear-
ranged, the new boundaries must be written, as they
have ever been written, with the point of the sword.
This, too, he says, is what diplomacy must end in.
Poland must reappear on the map of Europe, and
diplomacy will never write it there. There is no
mistaking such language. Mr. Horsman does not
condescend to explanation. It can only mean one
thing. We are to forget the story of this century,
and, as men would act if they could combine the
opportunities and impulses of youth with the deter-
mination and experience of age, we are to contest,
by force of arms if necessary, the original partition
of Poland. At all events, such a proposition ought
to be looked well in the face. Are we prepared to
enter upon a course of demands on Russia which
may involve us in a war,not only with her, but with
the other parties to the original partition ? Have
we framed to ourselves the extent of our demands,
the Poland that is to be; and do we ourselves
honestly desire this mighty mediaeval restoration ?
There are Poles from the Baltic to the Mediter-
ranean. There are Poles everywhere, and though
they meet to fight, they divide for everything
else. But if we give up the Treaty of Vienna,
we have nothing else to stand upon with Russia
but that wide platform upon which races make
their way, religions destroy one another, and em-
pires are founded. We enter the Conference sword
in hand, ready to throw it into the scale that kicks
the beam. That we may come even to this, at
some future time, the inextinguishable nature of
this struggle renders too probable ; but we are
most of us prepared to pray for "peace in our time"
on this question at least. If, indeed, the West of
Europe wishes to push its loftier civilisation east-
ward, and to make the Poles the vanguard of pro-
gress, it hardly becomes any organ of opinion to
discourage such a crusade. But let us not drift
into it. Let us not float unconsciously down to the
broken waters, for which our craft is neither built
nor manned. It is good to be a hero, or a martyr,
but not to be beguiled and entangled, one knows
not how, into these romantic expeditions. Great
acts require preparation. They must be done, and
done well; and they cannot be done well unless they
are foreseen and premeditated. The Poles have their
destiny yet to fulfil. Theirs is that keen temper,
and the subtle genius, in which we see the fated in-
strument n-
strument for the dissolution of huge masses, and thes
creation of new living forms. But these edge'too 1
are not to be played with. Mr. Horsinan himself
does but draw the scimitar and suspend it over the
head. of the Northern Damocles. Ile prophecies,But let us
rather than urges, an appeal to arni • ..
know what we are doing. We see on alslinsiales how
shot
a word may lead to a blow, and
'7 e
may deluge a continent withlbnloo . easy to
e rag8 a momentum
begin, but not so easy tostop.
when war i one of the
h to believe ourselves
even in diplomacy,
alternatives. We wll°-
we do not like to but
the fact assumed in thebe
a peaceful nation,
eisgeehbours. We are told that
told we are, orr to
hands of language of on
hv strengthens the
even our sympathy
We have obtained
Po-
land, and that the oncurrenc
from the European Statese. has done soldiers' work
for them. Both the parties in the dire struggle may,
however, one day taunt us with the promises which
we never meant to fious ulfil, and the cheapness of our
share in the glor but sanguinary contest. All
we ask and insist on is that we should know what
we are doing. We certainly
revolt, and may ask to did not encourage the
consider long and well
whether we should adopt it.
HERALD.—It was universally understood after
the recent debate on the Banda and Kirwee Prize,
that no further t
8 elm were to be taken by the Go-
vernment in the matter until Parliament had an
opportunity of discussing the subject with the
papers before them. Lord Palmerston's statement
upon this paint, in answer to Lords Stanley and
Hotham, was thought to be so explicit that
evasion seemed to be impossible. A distinct assur-
ance was given by the Prime Minister that the
final decision should be suspended, if necessary, till
next session, in order to allow time for the House of
Commons to peruse the papers and express an opinion
on the subject. But it certainly seems, that in Lord
Palmerston's philosophy, words were given toPrime
Ministers to conceal their meaning. Forty hours
after his lordship's express assurance that judgment
on the Banda and Kirwee Prize should be deterred,
the decision of the Lords Commissioners of the
was dispatched from Whitehall, and offi-
Treasury
cially annonuced to Sir George Whitlock's prize
agents. The letter conveying the decision, it is
true, was dated July 14, but it was not delivered in
Equare until the afternoon of Jaly 16.
St. James's-
there is really a fatality attaching
It seems as if

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~,_.,......4;AN.F.:117S PAPER
•1 r ~ "•,......,
ri 4T* '4Z
•• 1 +(A., • t,94
-1 Lti,.l
fry-,
,:o this unfortunate prize question. C.l' ""
we have the majority of the Indian , to ,
.2e/
by ex parte information, end perhaps fi 14 et ,
influential persona-_lt is said that there ..._ b. At S
a good deal of what. on Friday last was called soli-
citation going on at the Westminster Palace Hotel,
long before the accredited agent of General Whit-
lock's force waited on Lord Palmerston, in an
official manner, to solicit a fair and open hearing of -
this ease. Then we have the melancholy pile-
110111e11U, of cooked documents, of . imperfant sup-
pressions and additions, of interpulated matter, eud
non-veracious attestations. Then we have the
uneeimous °pillion of the law effects of the Crown
overidden by the arbitrary fiat of the Prime Minis-
ter, who it is welt known differs in his judgment
from the most able and upright of his colleagues.
And last, not. least, we have the distinct and (explicit
assurance of the head of her Majesty's Government,
formally given to the House of Commons en the
14th inst., deliberately violated. Truly The claim-
ants to prize-money in the days of the old Court of
• Chivalry were far better off then we nre in 1863
with Lord Palmerston at the Treasury Board. We
will only add in conclusion, that it is now granted,
even by the apologists of the Minister, that there
are no circumstances in this case which would ad-
mit Sir Hugh Rose, according to established etssge
aticlej:recedent, to share in the Banda mid liirwee
priz
and that a new precedent must be mode fur
his special benefit. We believe, moreover, that the
facts of the case Weref erroneously. stated in the
House of Commons,waosr it atppears that Sir George
suggested\Vliitlock' shy
L divisionera
Clyde orobrgyaannisyetiothmerargenPgiaall
authority, but was altogetheriad organised by ' Lord
rtahse, bscfore any Harris, the governor of
commu-
nication reached him from Supreme
rew4ianvse e
dGre
.hopivleeefer
oendf-
ment ; that Sir George Whitlock w
under the orders of the command
India, and that his march upon Banda irecield
by the personal orders of the Governor General.
short, all the important statement of the friends In
Sir Hugh Rose have been shown to be essentiallyo
incorrect, and Sir H. Rose himself has never ven-
tured to put forth a claim in a direct and formal
manner. The papers, however, are now to be
placed before the House of Commons, anditisfoorr
Parliament to declare whether this question has
been fairly investigated and honestly decided,
whether it is a case which imperatively demands
a fair and open examination before some judicial
' tribunal.