The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING. DECEMBER 27, 18!)4

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE-
ms DAT --Morning 42 min.alter 7 I Evening 11 mie.aft. 8
Te-lonaow Moraing 45 niin.after 8 Evening 18 min.aft. 9

Tat wzArraltx.--Elins Ornaz, Dec. 27.
TIVAILIJOIDETI3I, IS TSB SHABA.
48 —highest since noon yesterday.
40
----:thiceratyh, sa
InOronni .n and during the night.
42

BAROMETZB, 29'94.
Wm). -- - •/44•• W• —Dolt breeze, with fine cold sunshiny
weather.

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made fools of us in our diplomacy. We really
cannot afford to dally in the same disastrous style
with Poland. If the war continue, and it will
continue long if we mean to take Sebastopol ; if
we are to make a lasting peace, which is impos-
sible while Warsaw is the western capital of
Russia, then it is essential for the Allies to come
out boldly for Poland. We have pressed this fact
on our country before ; we have called attention
to the remarkable letter to the Emperor of
FRANCE, coinciding as it does on the main ques-
tion so thoroughly with our views, and we believe
the time is come wken it behoves the independent
and patriotic press of the country to force Poland
on the attention of the Government, by forcing it
on the attention of the people.
We honestly believe that every day which pro-
crastinates the formation of a Polish Legion under
the Polish banners, and the proclamation of a
reconstituted Poland as the conditio sine pus non
,3f peace is so much perverse and fatal loss of time.
We believe thit the postponement of these two

death."

things, sure to be necessary if the War lasts, will
Ally be atoned for by British blood, and by
British dishonour. Heavy military losses, and
heavy loans and taxes will brand the dilatory and
temporising incapables who hold the rudder of the
State, down to a late posterity, with deserved dis-
grace. It will not fail to be recorded by the
future historian that England and France, war•
ring against the ungovernable and dangerous am-
bition of Russia—both of them having always
lamented the fate of Poland, and having fostered
her exiles—jointly needing aid in their righteous
contest—that England and France declined to
evoke the people who panted to be led against
their oppressors ; that they were bamboozled—
we can find no better word—by such degraded
selfish Powers as Austria and Prusaia ; and that,
when they might have paralysed half the legions
of Russia by unfurling the Polish colours in their
sight, and might have reinforced their own by the
most legitimate of helps, they turned their backs
on the brave and the eager, and preferred the
help of mercenaries. Yes, it will be recorded
that England's Cabinet asked leave to hire merce-
nary " varlets," when thousands of brave Poles
were ready as hearty volunteers.
Net only is the proposed Foreign Legion an in-
sult to Englishmen : it is an insult to Poland.
Her right to fight against Russia is even more
olear and incontestible than our own. It is pru-
dence and generosity for us to interfere to rescue
Turkey, but for Poland to attack Russia, is but
the prostrated victim's seizing a favourable oppor-
tunity to stab his murderous assailant. Every
instinct of our nature sanctifies every wound a
Pole can inflict on Russia, and the great strife
would be doubly consecrated by the presence of a
Polish Legion. Theblood of that murdered coun-
try has long cried from the grouted ; nor will its
avenging furies give rest to Europe till the great
murderer receives his due, and his feet are driven
from the neck of his victim.
If we now be content with mercenary blood,
with mere executioners for hire, in place of patriots
fighting for their country's independence, why,

toria,

then, we deserve to lose ; and we only pray that
a merciful HEAVEN may not visit us with the
ill success which our measures deserve. No
Foreign Legion ought to be tolerated till
Poland has done its uttermost. A ■et of lazy
Germans, fellows who, if Mr. COBDEN be correct,
are so mean as to approve our cause universally,
and yet are 'unwilling to spend a kreutzer, or fire
a shot for it—creatures who dare not bray loud
enough to wake their petty rulers from their neu
teal or Russian slumbers—for such soldiers, it
they deserve the name, to stand beside the heroes
of the Alma, Balaklava, and Inkorman ! Why,
they could be trusted to defend no position, to
resist no Russian charge.
And for what, forsooth, are we to lose the in-
valuable and righteous aid of Poland ? To avoid
offending Austria and Prussia ! But they dare
not be offended. They dare not declare war
against us. War ! Why war against the Allies
means to them explosion and dismemberment ;
their people would not endure it. They would then
be but too happy to remain quiescent. The pro-
b ability is that decision on our part would imme-
diately decide them. They would make a virtue
of necessity, and soon become loud in assertion of
the necessity of a restored Poland to trim the
balance of Europe. If they showed any res-
tiveness, a hint on the Rhine, in Lom-
bardy, or in Hungary, would soon bring
these conscience-made cowards to their senses.
Austria, however, we feel confident, must
retain much of METTERNICH'S opinions, so openly
expressed at the Treaty of Vienna, as to the utility
to her of an independent Polish nation. We can-
not think she would regret to part with Gallicia
and the more recent acquisition of Cracow on
that condition. We do not entertain the least
doubt that the proclamation of a " fifth point "
would sooner than anything else harmonise the
political creed of all Western and Middle Europe.
bold policy is the only safe one with wily in-
triguers. One practical step in advance is worth
a bureau full of protocols. May it not be once
more taken too late. Poland cannot with impu-
❑ity be trifled with. England will not b 3 trifled
with by men whose chief argument is a threat of
resignation ; nor may our brave soldiers be tri-
fled with. We may imagine the coolness with
which, needing, as they do, reinforcements, they
would receive the despot's mercenaries; but we can
imagine also the enthusiastic hurrahs with which
both French and English would welcome a Polish
Legion and a Polish flag to the lines of Sebasto-
would be new life to our army and the
presage of the speedy storming of the town.

SIR JOHN BUROOYNI.

TO THE EDITOR OP TILE TINEFL

Sir,—Would you be kind enough to publish the fol.
lowing extract from Lord Wellington's despatch to Earl
Bathurst, dated October 26, 1812 ?
" The officers at the head of the artillery and engineer
departments—Lieutenant-Colonel Robe, and Lieut.-
Colonel Burgoyne, and Lieutenant-Colonel Dickson,
who commands the reserve artillery—rendered me every
assistance, and the failure of success is not to be attri-
buted to them."
This, Sir, was written by the man who had just tieen
obliged to raise the siege of Burgos, and would not be
in a mood to praise officers from custom or etiquette.
It disposes, I am inclined to think, of your corres-
pondent's letter of yesterday on Sir Jan Burgoyne.
'rho truth is, the Duke explains that he could have
taken the fortress long before but for the paucity of the
means allowed him ; and, as it was, he was only com-
pelled to raise the siege from "strategetical considera-
tions."
Allow me to add, that Sir John Burgoyne was also
concerned in the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz,
and St. Sebastian, which were successful.-1 am, Sir,
your obedient servant,
GURWOODIENSIS.

T E ARMY.—A return has been ordered of all officers
under the rank of field officers, now on half.pay, who
are willing to serve, and the number who are fit for
active service, and also the number and rank of all such
()Ricers who have applied to be placed upon active
service. This return was ordered on Saturday last, on
the motion of Mr. Macartney.
The Royal Mail steam-ship Arabia, Captain C. H. E.
Judkins, belonging to the Custard Company, arrived at
Marseilles, after an extraordinary run of seven days
from Dublin. She was to have sailed from that port on
the 14th inst. for Balaklava, with a large number of
troops on board.
The rate of exchange at Paris continues with an un•
favourable tendency for this country, in anticipation, it
Is presumed of the new loan, for which the various
I • •
capitalists are making preparation.

LATEST NEWS.

We have received the following from Vienna :

" TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

"A Russian ukase ordains that whoever after

a battle commits acts of cruelty on the wounded
or unresisting shall suffer the punishment of

MARSEILLES, TUESDAY.

The Valetta arrived here at 9 a.m. ; she brings
no news. She left the Loucisor at Malta, coming

:rom Constantinople.

The Jura, which left Constantinople on the

16th, has arrived here with Govern►nent des-

latches, which were forwarded by special train at

five iu the evening.

According to accounts from 13alaklava of the
14th, 5,000 Turks had disembarkel at Eupa-

The Tamar had arrived with troops.
The Royal Albert and Dauntless reached Con-

siantinople on the 15th.

RUSSIA.

The Augsburg Gazette has the following from
Vienna :—" A well-informed agent who has just
returned from Warsaw has given us the following
information. The Grand Duke, the heir presump-
tive, is to arrive at Warsaw in January, and to pass
the winter there. The Guards continue entering
Poland, and it is probable that they are all there
at present. Six regiments of cavalry are on the
Bug, and part of the troops who were in the go-
vernments of Lublin and Rodan, to the number of
about 18,000, are passing into Volhynia. Troops
are still marching from the north to the south.
A letter from St. Petersburg, in the Hamburg
Hews, says :—" The corps of grenadiers, as well as
the corps of infantry, will be .reinforced by two
battalions for each regiment from the depots. This
meagure proves that there is no idea of peace."

Emperor." The oath was then taken by fourteen
new senators, and by six new deputies.
The Minister of State then said, " In the name
of the Emperor I declare the session to bo opened,
and I invite the members of the Senate and of the
Legislative Corps to meet to-morrow for the de•
spatch of business."
The proceedings then terminated with cries of
" Vivo l'Empereur " Vivo l'lmperatrice !"

BOURSE, DEC. 2G.—CLOSING PRICES.
Cash. fr. c. End of Month.
41 per Cents 9l —94 f. —c.
3 per Cents 67 10 67 10
Credit Mobilier 733 75 Roman
Credit Foncier 550 Austrian
Belgian Fivea — Spanish Threes
Piedmonteso — Home Debt

RAILWAYS-FOR CASH.

38
.. 33,4

fr. c. fr. c.
Orleans 1,150 fr. Lyons - 978 75
Western 630 Rouen 935
Cette
Mediterranean SSO Havre 535
Northern

SPEECH OF THE EMPEROR
OF THE FRENCH.

MESSIEURS LES SENATELTRS,
MESSIEURS LES DEPUTES,
Since you last met great facts have been accom-
plished. The appeal which I made to the country
to cover the expenses of the war was so well re-
sponded to, that the result even surpassed our
hopes. Our arms have been victorious in the
Baltic and in the Black Sea. Two groat battles
have shed lustre on our flag (ont illustre notre
drapeau). A striking testimony has proved the
intimacy of our relations with England. The
British Parliament has voted thanks to our gene-
rals and to our soldiers. A great empire, rejuve-
nated by the chivalrous sentiments of its Sove-
reign, has separated itself (s' est detacke) from the
Power which, for forty years, has menaced the in-
dependence of Europe. The Emperor of Austria
has concluded a treaty—defensive at present, soon
perhaps offensive—which unites his cause to that of
France and England.
Thus, gentlemen, the longer the war continues,
the more numerous becomes the number of our

allies, and the closer are drawn the bonds already
formed. What firmer bonds can there, in fact, be
than those bearing the names of victories belonging
to the two armies, and recalling a common glory
—than the same anxieties and the same hopes agi-
tating the two countries— than the same views and
the same intentions animating the two Govern-
ments in every corner of the globe. Thus the
alliance with England is not the result of a passing
interest and of a policy of circumstances ' • it is the
union of two powerful nations associated together
for the triumph of a cause in which, for more than
a century, their greatness, the interests of civilisa-
tion, and, at the same time, the liberty of Europe
are engaged. Unite, then, with me on this solemn
occasion to thank here, in the name of France, the
British Parliament for its cordial and warm demon-

stration, and the English army and its worthy corn
manders for their valiant co-operation.
Next year, if peace should not have been re
established, I hope that I shall have to render
similar thanks to Germany, the union and prospe-
rity of which we desire.
I am happy to pay a just tribute of praise to the
army and to the fleet, which, by their devotion and
discipline, have worthily responded to my expecta-
tions, in France as iu Algeria, in the North as in
the South.
Up to the present moment the army of the East
has had to suffer, and has overcome everything—
disease, fire, tempest, and privations. A. citadel
incessantly reprovisioned, defended by a formidable
artillery by land and sea—two hostile armies,
superior in number—nothing could weaken its
courage or impede its impetuosity. Every man
has nobly done his duty, from the Marshal who bid
death wait till victory had crowned him, down to
the privates and the sailors, whose last cry in ex-
piring was a prayer for France—an exclamation
for the elect of the country.
Let us then declare together that the army and
the fleet have well deserved of their country.
War, it is true, entails cruel sacrifices, yet every-
thing commands me to push it on with vigour ;
and, with that object in view, I count upon your
assistance.
The land army consists at present of 581,000
soldiers and 113,000 horses ; the navy of 62,000
sailors on board ship. It iw indispensable to keep
up this effective force. To fill up the vacancies
caused by annual liberations and war, I shall re-
-Iquest from you, as I did last year, a levy of
140,000 men ; and a bill shall be presented to you,
the object of which will be to ameliorate, with-
wit increasing the expenses of the treasury, the
condition of the soldiers who will re-engage. It
will afford immense advantages by increasing the
number of old soldiers in the army, and by dimi-
nishing the oppression of conscription. This bill
will, I hope, soon have your approbation.
I shall ask your authority to conclude a new
national loan. Doubtless such a measure will
increase the national debt ; but let it not be for-
gotten that, by conversion of the Dente, the interest
of that debt has been reduced to twenty-one millions
and a half. My efforts have been directed to place
the expenses on a footing with the receipts, and
the ordinary budget will be presented to you
balanced. The resources of the loan alone will
suffice for the expen es of the war.
You will see with pleasure that our revenues
have not diminished. Commercial activity is main-
tained ; all the great works of public utility are
continued ; and Providence has deigned to grant
us a harvest which will satisfy all our wants.
Government, nevertheless, does not shut its eyes
to the distress occasioned by the high price of pro-
visions, and has taken every measure in its power
to provide against this distress, and to relieve it.
New sources of labour have been created in many
districts. The struggle which is going on, circum-
scribed by moderation and justice, whilst it makes
the heart beat, nevertheless alarms so little the
interests, that shortly an assembly will be held
here from all parts of the globe with the produce
of peace. Strangers cannot fail to be struck by the
remarkable spectacle of a country which, counting
upon Divine Providence, maintains with energy a
war at six hundred leagues from its frontiers, and
which at the same time, with equal zeal, developes
its internal riches—a country where war does not
prevent agriculture and industry from prospering,
the arts from flourishing, and where the genius of
the nation reveals itself in everything which tends
to the glory of France.

(From the Daily News.)

It is no exaggeration to say that the speech which the
Emperor of the French delivered yesterday at the open-
ing of the Legislative session, and which we publish this
morning, is characteri-ed by an eloquence as powerful as
that of the first of his name, and infinitely more chaste
and dignified. In this address Napoleon 111. rises to the
level of the situation.
The point in the speech upon which we seize with most
avidity is that in which the Emperor defines the nature
of the existing alliance between France and England.
He emphatically declares it to be no result of trivial in-
terests or ephemeral expediency, but the union of two
powerful nations, associated to insure the triumph of a
cause which for centuries has been the source of their
greatness, and which is essential to the civilisation and
liberty of Europe. This is the language of a true states-
man ; recognising that the alliance of France and Eng-
land is one of nations, and not merely of governments,
and that its best cement is their co-operation in the as-
sertion of that principle of national independence—of the
non-interference of foreign powers in the domestic affairs
of any state—to which both are indebted for their great-
ness. The Emperor's deliberate and solemn enunciation
of this great principle enhances the value of the warm
and elegant language in which he acknowledges the
tribute of esteem paid by the English Parliament to the
French army, and expresses corresponding sentiments
towards the army of England.
The allusions in the speech to the Central Powers of
Europe are singularly judicious. The treaty with
Austria is spoken of as one which, defensive to-day, may
become offensive to-morrow. The extent of Austria's
approximation to the Western Powers is not exagge-
rated ; no attempt is made to lead the French people to
expect more from its qualified adhesion to their cause
than facts warrant ; and at the same time the young
Emperor is spoken of in a mannercalculated to encourage
him to persevere and grow bolder in the good disposi-
tions he has evinced. With regard to Prussia, there is
an utter silence—full of meaning, and' perhaps half-
menacing. The wary Envoy of the Prussian Court now
among us will understand this reticence. The allusion to
the aggregate of the German states in the Imperial
speech is cordial and hopeful. This passage also may be
understood to contain a delicate but weighty suggestion
to any German sovereign who in his subserviency to
Russia may be disposed to forget hie obligations to his
own country and the general interests of Europe.
The outline of the preparations for next year's cam-
paign is succinctly yet clearly sketched. The army and
navy are to be maintained at their respective amounts of
581,000 soldiers (with 113,000 horses), and 62,000
sailors. To keep the army effective, and at the same
time avoid bringing too great a strain on the Treasury,
inducements areito be held out to old soldiers, whose
term of service has expired, to re-enrol themselves. BY
such means the ranks will be kept well filled with vete-
rans, and the future pressure of the conscription alle-
viated. A loan is to be raised, exclusively appropriated
to the exigencies of the war.
These are the main practical features of the speech.
The intimations of the purposes of the French Govern-
ment are interspersed with touching and elevating allu-
sions, well fitted to stimulate the national enthusiasm,
and sustain the confidence of the French people. Of
these the most striking, perhaps, is the picture of Mar-
shal St. Arnaud compelling Death to wait till he shall
have conquered ; the grandest, the rapid sketch of
France putting forth all her energies ins paled tranquil.

lity and self-possession—waging a colossal war at a dis-
tance of thousands of miles from iti frontiers, and at the
same time earnestly making preparations fur the great
industrial 'display of next year.

(From the Morning Advertiser.) Str.
Among the remarkable sayings attributed by Surgeon
O'Meara to Napoleon 1., is one which stands up in pro-
phetic rebuke of England for suffering herself to be
guided in this momentous crises by the insincere and VI
equally incompetent band of philo-Russians at the head of
affairs. " Europe, and England in partieular," said the Ro
far-seeing warrior and statesman, "ought to have pre- Bi
vented the union of Poland with Russia." Traitors
were then in the Cabinet, as there may be again, soon 31
enough for the present generation to know them. Na-
poleon saw both the folly and the danger of allowing 27
Russia to gain a firm footing on the Continent, in the
country which had preserved all Europa from the devas- 25
tations of Ottoman conquerors, and had held Muscovites
and Cossacks confined to their frozen plains and bound- St
less steppes. He thought that England should have for St
-
bidden this suicidal policy, but he could not imagine lc
that England would connive at the annexation of Finland
and the Baltic, nor that the Ministers of England would, 5(
in 1848, be concerned in the treaty by which Denmark 5(
itself became the prospective inheritance of the Czar: By 2(
this treaty, all may be Russia from the Sea of lianit- 2(
schatka on the east of Asia, to the German Ocean on g

he west of the European continent, and within 200 or
100 miles of our own shores.

Prussia and the Northern States of Germany, whose
rulers are already allied by marriage to the Imperial
family, would at once be swamped by the operation of
the iniquitous treaty in question. We now see the-im-
minent danger which Cabinet after Cabinet has been,
with apparent design, bringing not only over us, but
all over the-Powers in Europe. For we are now en-
gaged in a contest the same in principle and object as
that which commenced in 1803 and terminated in
1815, leaving us with an addition of nearly six hundred
millions to the national debt. We had then to save the
world from the universality of a western empire, and we
are now threatened with that of an eastern empire.
Then, Russia united with us to to prevent the re-esta-
blishment of the Roman Empire under French chiefs,
and now France unites with us to prevent the re-esta-
blishment of the Greek Empire under Tartar chiefs. We
shall again succeed, if her Majesty shall choobe her ser-
vants from men who are English in principle as well as
by birth.
Suffering the incorporation of Poland with Russia
was decidedly a false step, and, as common-sense dic-
tates, attempts should long ago have been made to
restore independence to the former. Russian policy
has rendered that more difficult now, for Poland has
been made almost one huge garrison, defended by ex-
tensive fortresses, which are said to be impregnable.
But if nothing be attempted • nothing can be achieved.
If our Ministers were truly men of English feelings
and principles, they would instantly bid the Poles work
out their freedom, and they would offer them assistance
in money at least, and then see what would be done.
The Foreign Enlistment Act, though the obvious fruit
of the secret clause in the Austrian treaty, gives them
sufficient power to apply, the means of the country to this
purpose ; but these men will no more use their means
than they damaged Odessa or preoccupied Perekop, by
which some 54,000 English lives would have been saved.
The Ministers of the day gave their assent to the Danish
settlement, and the conduct of Russia will justify its
annulment without further consideration. No such
thing will take place under the present Cabinet, for that
kind of policy is too clearly continued which occasioned
Napoleon I. to say to O'Meara, " Your country is no-
thing the better for your glorious successes, through the
imbecility of your Ministers, who have aggrandised
Russia instead of their native country."
Treacherous and imbecile as were Castlereagh and his
coadjutors, they yet contended against the project for
're-erecting a Frank monarchy over Europe, with the
Pope for its obsequious tool. Our Ministers make a
show of opposing the contemplated restoration of the
Byzantine empire, with a Russian Pope at its head. But
do they so in reality ? Not one step has been taken
even yet that is at all calculated to prevent the Czar
from succeeding in all his projects. We have attacked
a strong fortress, without taking the precaution to isolate
it at Perekop, in consequence of which reinforcements
in stores, ammunition, and men, are constantly pouring
into the Crimea for the enemy ; and the fortress is now
strongerthan ever, while our forces are perishing for want
of shelter from the climate, supplies of food and clothes, and
sufficient medical commissariat. As to the last, it seems to
be almost nominal. Do these things hold out any the
slightest appearance of a war undertaken with a view to
cripple the enemy and• preserve the honour of the coun-
rty ? If they do, we must begin to suspect that the
world has been turned upside down since the last war.
But, admitting that the war has been conducted in the
very best manner of which the Ministers are capable,
and with the honest design of humbling the Emperor of
Russia, we shall not err much in saying that a village
vestry could have done quite as well.
The war will be protracted, through blundering inca-
pacity and dallying with despots ; army after army will
perish ; but other men will be forced, by the repeated
recurrence of avoidable reverses, into the councils of the
state ; and, after the sacrifice of enormous treasure and
torrents of blood, we shall first begin to see the way to
an honourable peace. This result might even now be
speedily attained without such sacrifices, by rousing the
prostrate nationalities of Europe. Raise Polish, Ger-
man, Italian, and Hungarian legions under the recent
act, and not only will Russia be driven back, but barri-
cades be erected by the constitutional governments
which would necessarily arise, when nations panting for
freedom are armed against the common, enemy. Let no
one,, however, hope for any such measure from the pre-
sent Cabinet, for composed as it is of all sorts—semi-
Catholics, Puseyites, and the fag- er.ds of Whig and Tory
factions —all its sympathies are with the antipodes of con=
stitutional governments. Up to this moment this, the
greatest war of modern times, has been conducted so as
to avoid the enemy's vulnerable parts, and to do him as
little harm as possible, leaving our own warriors to be
taken care of by the accidents of sea and land, and the
,enderness of a Tartar winter on the shores of the Euxice.