The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

'I ImEs.— l'here will he throughout the country
untv,ifs.d approbation of the tone in which the
aff,irs of Poland were discussed yesterday in the
House of Lords. Alt hough it dees not, become the
politicians of great nation totedulge in bluster and
rodomontade, yet there c-.n be no reason that they
st ould smother every human feeling, and, in obedi-
ence to e, iquette, see public crimes committed with-
out a word of protest. Such base decorum had
never been a characteristic of Englishmen, and the
public will be pleased to find that no diplomatic con •
siderations have prevented Lordßusssll from speak-
ing freely what every man of humanity and honour
roue think of the Russian and Prussian Govern-
ments. In an eloquen, speech Lord Ellenborough
denounced the military tyranny vu ich had driven
Poland to revolt, which had surrounded the private
houses of Warsaw at night, and seized every man
whose opinions were supposed b 3 frightened corn-.
mandants to be dangerous, or who had made himself
obnoxious to some private enemy. Well might he
ask whether the Prussian soldiers, who have just
celebrated the 50th anniversary of German inde,
pendence, would, at the bidding of an infatuated
monarch, tarn their arms against a people who are
struggling to free themselves from a rule in com-
parison with which the first Bonaparte's was happi-
ness and glory. But the best service which Lord
Ellenborough performed was to elicit the straight-
forward avowals of Lord Russell. In a speech
which cannot fail to make a deep impression on
Europe, the Foreign Secretary gave a history of
the insurrection and the causes which led to it.
He recalled to the minds of his hearers the de-
monstrations which took place at Warsaw; the
churches filled with people, the patriotic hymns,
and the general wearing of mourning. all being in-
tended to keep alive the flame of national sentiment,
but without any very positive resistance to the Go-
vernment. Then he gave substantially the same
account of the movement as has appeared in these
columns. The principal landowners desired only
very moderate reforms. Their wishes, or at any
rate, their petitions, were limited to the grant of
Constitutional Government, of a representative
Assembly, and of a Polish administration which
would favour the religion and language of the
country. The prejudices of high rank and the timi-
dity of wealth prevented these men from being re-
volutionists after the fashion of those of humbler
station, and they only asked what their country
was entitled to according to the spirit, if not the
letter, of the Vienna treaties. The only petition to
which the Russian Emperor could fairly object was
that for the reincorporation with the legal " king-
dom of Poland" of those provinces which had been
annexed to Russia in the first partition of 1772.
But even this they had reason to suppose the Em•
peror might grant. But if the Russian Government
deserves the reprobation of Christian Europe, what
language of scorn is too severe for • he Prussian King
and his Ministers? It now appears that not only does
the Convention all,w the RussiAti trot pa to pursue
he Polish b ,nds on Prussian soli, but that the Prus-
siin troops have actually been ef; ployed in seizing
the fugitives who sought the hospitality of their
country, and handing them over to their Russian
oppressors Whatever may be our hostility to the
ho (Lth of our fat ling towards the
j:ekal. Lord Russ,-ii eertain:y spoke in the very
mi,cleNt t•r Ins to the Prussian ambsssador when he
dui that " t he Prussit n Government, by taking any
share-in the suppi ession of the insurrection, dots in
some way uiaks itself responsible atter the tact for
the measures of conscription that have been adopted."
Lord Malmesbury also, in the name of the Opposi-
tion, felt it necessary to condemn the extraordinary
conduct of the Prussian King. Indeed, it was im
possible that in a free country there could be any
difference of opinion on an act which could never
have been committed by a humane and manly Sove-
reign. Though we have no wish to breed disquiet
in Europe, yet we cannot refrain from pointing with
satisfaction to the deep sympathy wnich begins to
he felt in France for these unhappy Poles. The
French are not so much accustomed to political de-
monstrations as 1 hey were in former times ; society
leaves the affairs of Europe to the Emperor, and the
press seldom speaks without the word being given
by some superior power. But whether the inspira-
tion in this case has come from above or from the
heart of the people there is an ever deepening cry of
indignation against the proceedings of the two north-
ern Sovereigns. To the feeling of his subject it is
certain that the Emperor will give diplomatic ex-
pression. It is said that M. Drouyn de Lbuys has
been instructed to write a despatch to Berlin stating
the dissatisfaction of the French Government at the
Convention for the surrender of Podsh fugitives.
In this matter the Governments of England and
France will be completely in unison, and it is to
be hoped that Austria, which, unless report flatters
her, has taken a most dignified course and refused
all co-operation with the Czar, will join the cause
of humanity and justice. It may be that the anger
of his own subjects will bring King William to
reason—and of this there are already signs—but we
think that nothing short of a strong European re-
monstrance will put an end to the misdeeds of the
Russian Government in Poland.

HERALD.—The Premier has but to inquire in the
City the opinion about the refusal of the Govern-
ment to legalise a general holiday on the wedding-
day of the Prince of Wales. Everywhere, as the
subordinates of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
must have been thoroughly able to perceive, there
is a feeling of bitter disappointment, attended by a
wonderment, at the lurking motives and reasonable
cause for such a decision; and one can sympathise
with the keen regrets expressed in the banks and
the large commercial houses that the class which
is incessantly and actively engaged in attending
to the pecuniary interests of their employers, and
which, in consequence, is the least favoured with
these bright intervals of relaxation, is just the
very one to be most oppressed by the " Govern-
ment" determination. Mr. Alderman Salomone,
who is the representative of one of the wealthiest
and most important joint-stock banks, pressed the
question on Tuesday as to whether or no the
Government were prepared to bring in a bill for
making commercial entiagements failing due on the
wedding-day of the Prince payable as is by law
provided for Christmas-day, so as to enable all her
kjesty's subjects to enjoy the day of that auspi-
cious event as a getierai holiday. Lord Palmerston,
in reply, returned a supremely cautious neg,tlve,
on the ground that " any unnecessary interference
with the arrangements of the commerce of the
country is a thing to be avoided ;" and that there
was " no precedent" for such a measure as suggested.
If the marriage of the heir apparent to these realms,
and its immediate influence over the mighty desti-
nies and interests that are affected by such an auspi-
cious event, :lend only an occasion of " unnecessary
interference," &c., perhaps the good-humoured
nobleman at the head of the Government will define
a proper and fitting " necessity" for us in any one
future public event for which we may be preparing.
The . ay on which the future monarch of this happy
United Kingdom weds the Princess Alexandra
of Denmark will be a sacred one, in all estimable
likelihood, to generation upon
generation yet to
come, for a direct Regal succession may be esta-
blished such as few of the present lieges of the
existing Sovereign have witnessed. Surely this
wedding-day is a fitting one for a general holiday ;
surely this eager, insatiable quest of gain, which is
peculiarly a distinction of the present age, may,