The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-21 00:00:00

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET. I glary ? A mighty semi-barbarous, semi-Asiatic
Under the Management of Mr. CHARLES SEAN, Power may " intervene " in the " domestic affairs"
THIS EVENING, Ocr. 21,
of another weaker semi-barbarous, semi-Asiatic
Wu be performed THE DAY AFTER THE WEDDING. Sup-
potted by Mr. and Mrs. W. Lacy. Power, may seize its most fertile provinces till it
After which, Lord Byron's Tragedy of sARDANApALue,, con- has gained the object of its intervention, may ag-
alderably abridge Kean tage representation. Principal characters by
16.. itself at will at the expense of the weaker
Mr. and Mrs. C. ndise
To conclude with A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER. Supported Power, may thus augment its offensive resources
by Mr. W. Lacy and Miss C. Leclercq.
till it is competent to the subjugation of the ter-
ritories or the liberties of the remaining nations,
and, are we to behold the commencement and
coLtinuance of this process without interposing,
and best at the outset, the whole strength of the
community of nations ? Are we to leave each
nation to fight by itself the battles of its inde-
dependence with the universal foe ? The divisions
of tue Grecian States were the strength of PHILIP
• of Macedon ; TAerrus exults that the same cir-
cumstance placed the tribes of our forefathers in
the power of the Romans, dune singuli pug nant,
says he, universi vineuntur ; indeed, it is but the
dictate of common sense, and of all history, that a
disunited and apathetic Western Europe must
speedily become " all Cossack."
Even suppose, however, that the duty of Eng-
land and France were less clear in the present
painful emergency than we hold it to be, our
Peace friends are still bound to show us where
they would place that compulsory power which
should enforce the decision of their arbitrators.
The disgrace of violating solemn treaties Mr.
COBDEN speaks of as the punishment of the un-
manageaule nation. Why, in the name of com-
mon sense, what disgrace can be greater than that
now incurred by Russia ? Yet deceit, fraud, low
chicane, and burglarious violence, all exposed in
the face of the civilised world leave that Power as
unabashed as ever. The consciences of nations
and their ambitious Governments, like the con-
sciences of corporate bodies, are of well known
robustness. Success, the indemnity for too much
individual crime, is notoriously the indemnity for
political crimes. Russia, for instance, if success-
ful in the present case, would soon, instead of
blushing for it, glory that she had outwitted
Western Europe, and robbed the Turk.
There must we conceive, therefore, even
in fair theory, be always sufficient dis-
posable force in the hands of the nations to
uphold the law of nations against the attempts of
any nation to break it. In practice we are quite
confident that statesmen will never feel secure on
any other footing. We have always felt, too,
that by far the strongest case, irrespective of con-
sequences to the balance of power, is the claim of
weaker nations on the help of the strong. Sup-
pose, for argument's sake, that the Divine precept
" not to resist evil" should be interpreted as
literally as Mr. JOHN BRIGHT or Mr. JOSEPH
STURGE desires--suppose we, in consequence, all
felt bound religiously to abstain from self-defence
by force, it would be quite another question
whether we were to abstain from defending
against violence our helpless wife or child. We
hold that, in every honourable mind, the instinct
that impels to protect weakness is of a nobler,
more sacred, and more imperative kind than that
which bids us protect ourselves. If the most
elevated Christianity teaches us to bear much evil
patiently ourselves, it does not teach us to bear
patiently the sight of others' wrongs. It rather
summons us to hazard our lives for their deliver-
ance. We have never seen this argument fairly
met by the peace men, yet it is a most important
one. Few of them will deny the duty of dying,
if needful, in defence of our country's liberty;
hardly second to this, not second in the noblest
minds, is the duty of risking everything rather
than see a weaker nation's liberties murdered be-
fore our eyes. We cannot wish for our own
country a more honourable, and, as we think, a
more Christian mission in Europe than that of
the protection of the weaker States. Not of the
despots against the peoples, but of the liberty of
the States themselves ; and especially their liberty
to settle their own domestic quarrels, as we did in
the times of the Commonwealth and of WILLIAM
111. This can never be unless we are as power.
ful as we are wealthy.