The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-29 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN REVIEW—No. 111.
Ridgway : London, 1836.

The great merit of this Periodical—so far as it has
yet gone, for this is only the third Number—is its utter
freedom from the cant and intolerance of sectarianism.
It is neither exclusively Utilitarian like the " West-
minster ;" exclusively Tory like the " Quarterly ;" nor
exclusively Whig like the " Edinburgh ;" but holds on
a straight-forward, independent course, scorning the
trammels of party, and acknowledging no patron but
the people. This free spirit pervades all its papers,
and, with us, forms their chief recommendation ; for
nothing narrows the mind like prejudice, however
amiable, or attachment to party, however conscientious.
Besides, the days of stubborn partizanship are fast
going by for ever, except among the Tories ; and even
with these, it is a principle of which the majority,
if they could, would gladly disembarrass them-
selves. 'Whether as senator or journalist, who-
ever henceforth sires to attain success, must make
his appeal direct to the people. This the " Review"
before us does in its every essay ; and in none more
triumphantly than in its article on the " Poles and the
Czar," which will strike an electric chord in the breast
of every generous reader. The Reviewer truly ob-
serves, that the period of Poland's restoration is nearer
at hand than most people imagine ; and shows how un-
generously—we purposely use the mildest term—it has
been retarded by the time-serving policy of the Whigs
of England, and the Doctrinaires of France. Had
these Cabinets combined at the fitting season, and.
with becoming energy, to demand the re-establishment
of Polish independence, the Russian cannon would
not now have been insultingly pointed against the
city of Warsaw. But our vacillation has new edged
the Czar's energy. The Northern bully is the child
of Southern apprehension. It is singular how many
years this dread of Russian influence has obtained
among the European Cabinets. All profess equally
to dislike, yet all equally eschew, the slightest interfe-
rence with it. Even so far back as 1814, when Bri-
tish valour, backed by British gold, had emancipated
Europe from the thraldom of Napoleon, Russia was
the one, great giant against whose will such means were
felt to be unavailing. In vain Lord Castlereagh—
supported too, be it observed, by France and Austria
—insisted on the restoration of Poland ; Alexander was
averse to it ; " his troops," he said, " were in pos-
session ;" and this argument was held to be decisive.
It is not, however, so much the Tories as the Whigs,
who are to blame for this subserviency to the St.
Petersburgh Cabinet. Polish emancipation was never
a favourite question with the former ; whereas, with
the latter, it was for years their darling hobby. Not
a Session elapsed, but they mounted—spurred—and
suffered it almost to run away with them. Mark the
terms in which Lord Grey, in the year 1814, ad-
dressed the patriot Kosciusko !

" GENERAL,--I request you to accept my thanks for your
letter of the 20th of May, which was delivered to me by Count
Krukowiecki, and for the flattering expressions with which you
have been pleased to honour me. Be assured that it is im-
possible to take a deeper interest than I do in the fate of
Poland. The calamities of that brave but unfortunate
people—their constancy and their virtues, of which you,
General, have given personally so illustrious an example,
cannot fail to excite the sympathy of hearts truly im-
bued with the principles of humanity and justice. I am
convinced that an enlightened policy is equally favour-
able to their just claims. To the first violation of the sacred
principles of general liberty which took place in the partition
of Poland in 1772, and those which followed in 1793 and
1795, ought to be attributed all the dangers to which the whole
of Europe has since been exposed, and front which we have so
happily escaped. There can exist no real security against
the return of these dangers, if Poland remain excluded from
the benefit of the general deliverance, which, in order to be
perfect, ought to be guaranteed by the solemn recognition of
the rights and the independence of nations. If the Powers
which seek to profit by the injustice, and which in the
sequel have suffered so much could learn the true lesson
from experience, they would perceive that their security
and their mutual tranquillity would be better preserved by
re-establishing among them, as a State truly independent,
that country which a false policy has so cruelly oppressed.
These sentiments, General, are profoundly engraven in my
soul ; and you may be assured, that, in order to declare them
loudly, I shall neglect no occasion in which I may believe I
can do so with effect. If, during the late debates in Parlia-
ment, I have not dwelt so much on this subject as 'could have
desired, THIS PROCEEDS FROM THE CERTAINTY WHICH I HAD,
THAT I COULD IN NO WAY INFLUENCE THE POLICY OF THE
GovERNmENr : and the fear of adding, perhaps, to the
dangers which threaten the fate of a people, whose cause is
so dear to me, but whom present circumstances deprive me of
all hope of serving. Receive the most sincere assurances
of my respect and my admiration, and believe me, General,
your very faithful and humble servant, (Signed) GREY."

His Lordship, it will be seen, here states expressly
that his only reason for being silent in Parliament on
the subject of Poland, arose from a conviction of his
inability to do her service ; thereby implying that the
instant he was possessed of sufficient influence, that
very moment he would exert it in her behalf. Well,
sixteen years pass away—Toryism is subdued—the
Whigs gain the ascendant—and Lord Grey becomes
Prime Minister of England ! Where, now, is his
zeal in the cause of Poland ? Does he remember his
letter to Kosciusko, and hasten to redeem the pledge
therein volunteered ? Not he I Though he sees this
gallant people struggling against the overwhelming
power of their oppressors, and eclipsing the heroism of
Greece and Rome in the most heroic period of their
annals ; be resigns them without a sigh to their fate,
on the poor pretext that the time is not yet ripe for
action—just as if the time was ever ripe to him who is
interested in delay I We have no desire to recal old
grievances, but we shall ever consider the desertion of
Poland by the Whigs as the one ineffaceable blot in
their character. They may talk as they please about
the embarrassments of their position, but we reject the
plea ; for they could grapple with and overcome far
greater difficulties, when their own interests were at
stake. However, despite Whig vacillation, and Doc-
trinnaire chicanery, Poland shall yet rise from her
• ashes, and the Russian bear be beaten back to his
Scythian forests.
The article entitled " English Parliamentary Elo-
quence" is carefully penned, but by no means in a first-
rate spirit. The Reviewer tells us nothing about
Canning that we did not know before, with this excep-
tA, that he " ranks with Burke, Fox, Pitt and
Sheridan in genius, and was a more accomplished
orator." This is sad hyperbole. In the external graces
of elocution, Canning may certainly have been more
" accomplished" than any of the great names we have
just quoted ; but as for his ranking with, or even ap-
proximating to, Burke and Fox in " genius," never
was such an error in judgment. Compared with the
one in variety of knowledge and wealth of imagination,
or with the other in the skill and vigor of his dialectics,
he was as a rush-light compared with the sun. He
delighted, indeed, by his attic wit and melodious Pe-
riods ; but he never astonished by his imagination,
nor convinced by his understanding. The best
speech Canning ever delivered, is but little ele-
vated above elegant common-place. When serious,
he was always shallow and artificial, with a dash of
rhetorical glitter that brought back on us the recollec-
tion of the precocious. Eton boy ; and is as far removed
from any thing like genius—at least in the sense in
which Burke was a genius—as it is possible to con-
ceive. His wit, however, his polished sarcasm, and,
above all, the appositeness of his classical allusions—
each in its way was exquisite ; and if these faculties
alone were sufficient to constitute an orator, never was
a more accomplished one than Canning ; but if we
allow him to be first•rate, in what rank are we to place
Burke, Fox, and, more particularly, Chatham ? We
shall be according him an ample measure of justice,
if we station him among the second rates, side by
side with Pitt and Sheridan. Posterity will give him