The Sun.
London, England, 1836-02-04 00:00:00

1) °ITS ADDRESS to the Bltl
NATION.

Freedom's battle once be.gun,
liequeath'd by bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft is ever won."— The alour.
Half a It BYRON.
- 'll -

. a century will soon have elapsed since the qrsnts
anal despots who Isad sworn perdition to Poland, sUcceeded
hi dismembeslng their victim, as ensnared in the nets
of
their devilish, policy and weakened by internal strife and
disease, she lay crushed and heart-broken beneath the
weight Of countless WO2S, and neglected and abandoned by
the svi...ole world.
After blast:ng with cal.umny before the than weak and
smenlightened tribunal of public opittitn her pure and
once all lustrous fame, they flew to revel in her spoils ;
and, as her ancient name d'sappeared from the map of
the globe, full of ferocious rapture at their easily achieved
conquest, they shouted aloini--." Poland is no more !"
And the nations of Eurolse, fear-stricken and deprave:!,
seemed to echo, in heartless mockery—. Poland is no
more !" Yet still --ne survived—death over her had
obtained not the victor. Still did the breath of a life
from
impe as y
simate her mangled but palpitating limbs ;
and erishabl
'nee grave arose a deep stern voice that
--minglir4; with the savage glee of her imagined de-
str°Yers. Was heard amid all the flush of fancied triumph and
crime perpetrated with impunity and sheltered by power—
whist,ered to their guilty and trembling hearts, " Poland
cat:not perish ! She descendeth into the tomb but to rise
:Again with greater glory, and complete the mission that
heaven hails allotted to her, of protecting and eonsummat-
iulg the liberty and safety of Christendom, of saving the
civilized world from the yoke of the oppressor and the sword
of the barbarian?'
That voice, too, was heard by the warrior-patriot as he
wandered in exile far from the home of Ills fathers, from the
soil where rested the ashes of his k' '`s
from the plains
their blood had hallowed and thsjir •virtues glorified,--it was
heard by him amidst all his ts-As, and cheered him in all his
suff"ings ; it consoled hite it yet. consoles him, for the tem-
Porary loss of his cousstry, for the apathy and ingratitude of
the nations that his sires in a thousand battles bled to save ;
that he deems lsiiinself destined yet to persevere.
I), Yes' it Was behind the adamantine shield of Polish valour,
nenth the shadow of the protecting wings of Poland, at
once Alin parent and champion of reviving civilization, litera-
-I.4rqs and science, that Europe enjoyed a security essential to
I,.er intellectual progress ; that she was enabled to perfect
her industry and arts, and foster the flickering spark of
a°wiedge into the glorious light that is now spreading wide
ore
.. " the earth—diffusing blessings wherever its heavenly
.a.,.
J" Penetrate, and purifying and exalting mankind.
4.1 t Was
against the frontiers of Polana, defended not by
teil"dels and forts, but by the breasts of her gallant sons,
alia,t.repeatedly broke thss invading torrents of the fierce
in upnatic followers rdi INlabornet, until her warriors, pass-
Ingthr"l the d
-efer."ec of their own homes, and progressing
Pravi°,l mightY and exalted vocation with' which they felt
PU1.211411" ',dad invested them as the saviours of Europe,
Aost,i, ''Ald vanquished, in the heart of the hereditaryzatio4:„Pessessions the last hordes that threatened civil':
to th,.r it destruction. Bitter was the recompense awarded
tho st
ern generous valour ! When after ages of deadly strife
lionoivyer_siosereinsteoafgaNinla,homet fell beneath the arm of Sobieski,
ungrateful and selfish Europe, intent
b._
.. on rea.sim.
v o and enjoying the blessings secured to her
prYottne saerifices of Poland, with past danger forgot her
the ?Tess •; and when that protectress, who, intent on
iut lab of the camp and the protection of European
;.eolQr,t, had neglected her , own polity and omitted to
fella cuY the errors of 'an antiquated internal organization,
A- PreY to the ambition, avarice, and intrigues of Russia,
ecsstra, and Prussia,—her cries for assistance formed no
Avt.l° ia the hearts of the rulers and cabinets of Europe.
g,".rn,ed in vain of the ambitious designs of Russia, sug-
Iceu and directed by the founder of her military power,
tNier the Great, they listened in blind security to the base
the false adulation lavished by the poet of Ferney upon
of
as Catherine ; and perceived not that there, as
i_ yore, the blood of Poland was flowing not in defence of
eel..
fromlf alone, but in struggling to protect civilized man
the Powers of darkness and barbarism, more terrible than
1 °Lse from rhich he had been already saved, and which
IZ:e.(1 in the yet undefined but gigantic outline of the
-8144 monster, which then first made its appearance
on t, __ , .
After a long period of internal
wa,,tlQ political horizon.
of and disturbances little known beyond the boundaries
ti; e 't! barbarous and icy steppes, Russia united at last by
4, iron hand of a fierce but skilful chief, began to cast
;o°4'. its throne of snows a longing eye upon the rich and
, unsbing plains of civilized Europe. With. an instinct
that
to all savage hordes, the Moscovites soon perceived
let the first and most formidable opponent in the path of
ring"pelt' contemplated conquests would be the ancient guardian
), urope, Poland ; that Iri removing her, the strongest bar-
ge which separated th.Jm from their covetted prey, would
',).e annihilated. T 0 the accomplishment of this object,
therefore, were dlrected all the efforts of the ambitious, per-
severing, and merciless policy of Peter and his successors,
aided and merciless
infatuated Europe herself in all their
chiefsschemes for her own destruction ;for from her were derived
to discipline the legionsdestined to
be sheathed in hero_ wnb°osom whose swords wered
; and her skill was employe
with to
construct the vessels whose flan sho ld on challenge
bee's the dominion of the R i_
. u so
-cospuorus. At first, however,
the strength of Poland made it unsafe for the Czar to at-
tempt to cope with her in open warfare. The difficulties
resulting from constant wars abroad and dissensions at home
..ztlise.mine_.vi.table consequence of a Government:sin ,
eted only to
'suttee; simplicity and ideas of an earlier age—suggested to him
, r , though slower, means of accomplishing' her de-
kruction.
,-, de-
Relying in the blindness and inactivity of the European
skrtrZerTneuts, and imagining that in the divided and faded
to bnisgta of Poland would be found no invincible obstacles
trc Projects, he prescribed to his successors a course of
obs,aelleslred.rY, intrigue, and aggression, which they faithfully
Sins
(i;zat-:-)s.equent events have but too clearly proved, that the
tl "al not falsely calculate the indifference of Europe, but
delcy also spew that he did greatly undervalue the power,
vte,.tedness, and fortitude of 6 Poland.
a,t.r.1.,e mistook a weakness, occasioned by the influence of
intern and external circumstances acting upon a faulty
p5,,‘,4'3. organization, for the want of physical and vital
rinn`:,* As soon as the proceedings of his successor Cathe-
c,Vne Second had removed all doubt of the designs of the
iti; Inet of St: Petersburg, Poland, mindful of her glorious
sk„--" amongst the nations of Europe, animated with the
stie cPirit that had formerly made her the guardian angel
(If reedOrn and religion, and compensating for the deficiencie.3
fle:aaterial forces by unlimited national and individual seem-
it,C, again stepped forward alone and unaided to the strife,
Alin
_. h was to determine the fate of the civilized world. In
:that Midst of continual struggles which ensued, perceiving
it the form of her Government was the only impediment.
f 0 'er efficiently overcoming the hordes of the Muscovite,
Threin a nation of warriors she suddenly became one of states-
ada ntld legislators, and finally, by the constitution of the
1.1,°' I\laY 1791, proved to the world, that in both these
tz,Pects she was not to be surpassed by any of her con-
-,Poraries.
shi'Nefrwithstanding her subsequent troubles, occasioned
ini,., Y by the weak and imbecile king that Catherine had
anti upon her, her unceasing patriotic efforts would
s 4 1, t'-'dly have left her in the first rank of empires, if
n'i-; "ad had Russia alone to contend with. But Catherine.
.e,.'a that her single strength would fail before the energies
sQ,."generated Poland, dissembling her ultimate views, had
assist 9'n'se to the plan of alluring Austria and Prussia to her
I,b.anc,e, by the offer of sharing with them the spoils of
of ti;_ic_tnn. The at once criminal and benighted cabinets
that ,780 two Powers, disregarding the voice of conscience,._
Lail „Linde them beware how they violated all that mankind
hy'tbuceo taught to revere as sacred and holy, and attracted
liai"s" Prospect of a mere temporary gain, fell into the snare
vioci lor them, and presented to the world the example of
a
to tl'e ?!lee unprecedented in the annals of history, and fatal
0 general welfare and interests of humanity, while they
i
nesttroyed their own defence against the common foe. Had
the9ie
, Pure and holy voice of justice and conscience, but
st • impulse merely of their true self-interest guided their
,eils, they should have seen that the advantages arising
tosesin3 this an of their dominions could not com-
thon. ate for the dangers which must sooner or later menace
by ,11-1 k from a neighbour already too powerful, and who,
t(i. '"e acquisition of one half of Poland, would be enabled
Penetrate into the heart of Europe. They should have
seen ti at P,. • •
Over 1-- Russia, in investing them with temporary power
the remaining territories of' Poland, did so only to se-
c,,tir to herself afterwards a more certain and undivided
cessession of that country, a possession at that moment iin-
.,(lB!ible, of
which it I,vis,i'icces.ary for her to accomplish,
sl.,lailispensable to her schemes of forming an universal
clavenian empire. The proposal of Alexander nt the
ongress of Vienna, to unite to Russia the Duchy of War-
, originall
sow . .
divided between Austria and Prussia, seems
lt° have Opened the eyes of Austria at least to the real de-
tas of her insatiable and insidious neighbour, and induced
ceer at the same Congress to declare, that she was willing to
,nounee her share of the spoil, if the whole of independent
I °land were to be restored ; a declaration that Prussia,
Possessed of Posen, and promised Saxony, had neither the
/visdurn nor the honesty to imitate or su-pport, -and which
being but feebly, and, in consequence of the return of Napo-
leon, but hastily and imperfectly seconded by England and
Prance, availed not against the wily and powerful Autocrat,
Who, taking advantage of the Napoleon panic and exhausted
state of Europe, to work upon the fears of those he could
net cajole, hinted both the danger of alienating him at that
moment, and the possibility of supporting his proposal
by the swords of his Cossacks.
frightening In fact, by
some of the Cabinets, and sedue-
lng others into an action as infasnous as it was contrary to