The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-30 00:00:00

DAILY NEWS.—The spirit of liberty and national
independence which has triumphantly withstood
the fiery ordeal of near a century in Poland appears
unconquerable. Yet it does not follow that the
Poles may not, if properly treated, be loyal subjects
of their King, even though Emperor of Russia.
For many ages Hungary was in that predicament,
and yet devoted to Austria. Experience proves that
it is absurd to attempt to convert the Poles into
Russians. And yet not only have the Poles been
converted into Russians by ukase in the greatest
part of ancient Poland under Russian :sway, but
they are also made liable to the penalties of treason
every time that they presume to express, though in
a legal form and to their Sovereign, a respectful
wish to resume their ancient name and their ancient
laws. In October last, the nobility of Podolia, at
a meeting which they held in accordance with annual
custom, and with the sanction of the Crown, for
the discussion of the local interests of the province,
expressed by the organ of their marshals a wish to
that effect, in a most humble and respectful petition
addressed to their Sovereign, whom they might,
though they did not, remind of the fact that
they were only soliciting what, in nearly the same
terms, had been repeatedly and solemnly pro.
mised to them by Alexander I. The policy of
granting or refusing the request is a question quite
distinct from its legality, and, even in assuming
that point as doubtful, a great distance separates
an illegal from a treasonable act. All those who
signed the petition have, nevertheless, been ar-
rested and conveyed to the damp and pestilential
dungeons of the fortress of St. Petersburg, where
they will have time to rot before they are brought
to a mysterious trial for treason before the Senate
—a tribunal before which they will have no coun-
sel, where they will be obliged to criminate them-
selves by answering captious interrogatories, and to
which the public are not admitted. But, the trial
over, some grossly garbled account of it will appear
in print, which nobody will believe to be a full and
fair and honest narrative, except perhaps the Em-
peror himself, who is the most grossly deceived man
in his dominions. Incidents like this explain,
though they by no means justify, the sanguinary
attempts which the youth of Warsaw in their des-
peration are every now and then making, to their
own ultimate punishment, but we regret to add
also, to the no trifling damage of the cause of their
country.

MORNING HERALD.—It would be interesting to
know when Lord Russell informed the French Mi-
nister that the time had not yet come to offer a
joint mediation in American affairs, which was the
probable conjuncture of events that shaped them-
selves to his mind as those that would render me-
diation warrantable. If he had formed any definite
idea of such a time—if the phrase were not a mere
verbal evasion of the disagreeable duty then pressed
home upon him to make up his mind—he must re-
cognise, in the present position of the American war,
the advent of that very.period when he admitted it
might be the duty of the Great Powers of Europe
to interfere and assuage the deluge of blood. The
hopelessness of Federal victory, which has been long
apparent en this side of the Atlantic, must now
have forced itself upon the dullest politician in the
Northern States. We will say nothing now of the
dreams of conquest in which the Republicans in-
dulged; their wild anticipations of a triumphant
march over the prostrate South—their wicked re-
vellings in the prospect of parcelling out the Con-
federate lands among the licentious Federal soldiery.
We will not ask what has become now of the arro-
gant proclamation of President Lincoln, who unde-
took, by a stroke of his pen, to annihilate the pro-
perty and free the slaves of men who, whatever
their other faults may be, have manhood enough to
beat back the would-be emancipators intnsh shdo every
encounter. We confine ourselves now to the more
e
mmhreeaansvdtt
fnictwmrho
ot
loana
mrddtt
eeet ranthi ahttedt
the North
es
ni pt
thaohianl
integral
have
ct ofheeeyegbirmest
aeh
lmoral
appearsrlpart
the
four
a Rcure
artffeppe
otdeueufi
effects
easyteyoi
hcr
Richmond
eeao
thatinui
hap partyc,
naa
crtoott
nmey
platformi n
ad,
pw victory,a
Cap-
turef
t
tßocapturet
took Richmondat
te
Richmond,!
results. lt i s easyansdi toec each
ts
hha ye
h,
beginning a as n
sdi , l
no aol kl
oye
fd a t
nha
det
e
disastrously failed_ The North has made the at-
tempt in every possible manner and from every
quarter of the compass. By land and by sea, from
the north, the south, the east, and the west, the assail-
ants have been met,and fought and beaten,and thrown
back in disorder, or chased in shameful rout under
the guns of their capital; and Washington has
again and again been placed in more imminent
danger than Richmond was ever threatened with.
The last of this series of disasters, though the most
creditable to the Federal arms, is perhaps the most
calamitous of them all. With a courage which they
had not before shown, the Federals charged up to
the very muzzles of the Confederate guns, and fell
in heaps in front of the impregnable lines; with a
skill which contrasts strangely with the blundering
rashness that led him to fight in such a situation at
all, General Burnside is said to have performed the
perilous feat of recrossing a broad river, under the
very guns of a victorious enemy, without the loss of
a man. But not the less the right arm of his force
is broken. It is in no condition to deliver another
stroke. Greatly reduced in numbers and still more
shaken in prestige, shattered and demoralised, it is
now admitted it must retire into winter quarters
and recruit its strength, and recover its confidence
in itself and in its leaders, without which an army
is a mere mob of cravens. But where are the re-
cruits to come from ? To every former defeat Pre-
sident Lincoln was wont to reply by calling for a
fresh supply of volunteers. Will he have recourse
to his old expedient now ? It is as needful as it ever
was ; for we suspect the numbers of the killed and
wounded, startling as they are, bear but a small
proportion to the deserters. But where are his
volunteers ? It is plain that volunteering has
reached its limits, The drafting so often, threatened,