The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-07 00:00:00

sessions of the Emperor of Austria shall, under all cir-
cumstances, remain undiminished, is to undertake to"
lend rssistance, when called upon, to put down any at-
tempt on the part of the Hungarians or Italians to re-
assert, their liberties. By what means could England
fulfil such a pledge? Would 'an English Government
send troops to fight against Italians or Hungarians in
arms to assert their liberties I Would an English Par-
liament vote a subsidy to hire troops to fight for the
Emperor of Austria in such rs cause ? Would the Eng-
lish people tolerate a repetition of the unutterable base-
ness of the statesman who caused Mazzini's letters to be
opened, and who, by imparting their contents to the Nea-
politan Government, made himself accessory to the murder
of the Bandieri ! We will not believe that any English
Minister has been base enough, by taking such a pledge,
to yield himself up as a tool,to a despot t' under all cir-
cumstances." We will not believe that any English
Minister can be siich a fool as to expect that an English
Parliainent or the English people would tolerate such
baseness on his part. A true English Minister, if in-
'suited 'by a' request that he should take such a rledge,
would quietly answer that England had put down in-
surrection in Ireland without asking the aid of Austria,
and that Austria must not expect aid from England
should insurrections occur in any part of its dominion 3.
He would go on to say that the English people, having
exercised the right of deposing a Sovereign who sought
to trample on the national convictions and will, could,
not with common decency interfere to prevent any other
people from following their example. England's prin-
ciple and practice are to abstain from stirring up insur-
rections by intrigues in any neighbouring State • to ab-
stain from all interference between nations and their
rulers when in controversy or at war with each other ;
and to recognise the de facto rulers of every nation as
long as they maintain their place—believing that the
national will is the only legitimate tenure of a Go-
vernment.

We repeat that nothing short of the production
of the treaty can convince us that any Esiglish
Minister can have been guilty of setting his hand to such
a pledge. If the statement that the treaty with Austria
contains such a pledge is false, Go'vernment ought not
to lose a moment in disabusing the public mind. Every
moment that they allow the assertion to remain uncon-
tradicted will be turned to account by their enemies to
arouse a spirit of hostility, towards them. If unfortu-
nately the charge is true, they may prepare to encounter
such a storm of national indignation as has rarely burst
upon the devoted heads of a Ministry. Our hopes are
sanguine that ultimately the story will only add one to
the long list of ridiculous and mischievous canards to
which the Times has of late given currency. But should
it, contrary to our expectations, prove true, the early
publicity given to the terms of the treaty can only
be attributed ,to the treachery of the Austrian
Government : that Government will, after seducing
our Ministers to give such a pledge, have hastened to
degrade them in in the eyes of the English people by
proclaiming their abandonment of the principles of the
English constitution.