The Sun.
London, England, 1831-09-20 00:00:00

LONDON,
TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1831.

The express from Paris gives alarming ac-
counts of the state of the French capital. The
news of the fall of Warsaw seems to have ex-
cited among all classes there a phrenzy equal to
that produced by the publication of the Po-
LIGNAC Ordinances. Men view it as a na-
tional calamity—as a national disgrace, of which
each individual must bear his share. The ma-
jority of the shops are shut—public busi-
ness is in some degree suspended—the Mini-
sters are insulted, laughed at, threatened,
and hanged in effigy—crowds throng the streets,
with crape hat and arm-bands, some pillaging
gtin-makers' shops, others busy in listening to the
ardent appeals of the newspapers—the theatres are
almost all closed—the black flag is hoisted in
some of the main streets—the drum beats hourly
to arms—the Marsellaise is publicly sung in the
Palais Royal—the troops of the line are in motion
—and to sum up all in one significant sentence,
the Ministry has been twice defeated on points
which it had strongly at heart. Such is the
substance of the last despatches from Paris ;
such the condition of that capital from Friday
down to Sunday night. The fall of Warsaw
has electrified all hearts—engrossed all attention.
Even the question of the hereditary Peerage is
for the time swallowed up by it. The resigna-
tion, therefore, of the Ministry, we look upon as
decided, and if so, who will take its place ? As-
suredly the movement party, for there is none other
of sufficient influence or standing. There is no
mean—no third body. The contest lies between
the two dxtremes—between the peace and the
war par—between those who would preserve
the tranquillity of Europe at all hazards, and
those who would follow up the principles of the
revolution.

Though we may deplore this unsettled
state of things in the French capital, still
we cannot wonder at it. It is the natural
consequence of circumstances. The triumph
of NICHOLAS is an indirect attack on
the principles of the French revolution, and
could not fail to be viewed as such by the
vainest and most restless people on earth. But
it is worse than this. It is a disgrace to all Euro-
pean Cabinets—that of England among the
foremost. What ! have the Whigs and Libe-
rals been declaiming for the last thirty years
in Parliament and out of Parliament, in books,
in reviews, in newspapers, about the infamous
partition of Poland, for nothing ? Have all
their sounding apostrophes to freedom come at
length to this—that might is still to overcome
right, justice and liberty still to continue a
mockery and a bye-word among men ? 0,
shame, where is thy blush f When the
Whigs and Liberals were out of office, who
such ardent denouncers of the wrongs of Poland ;
now they are in, who so timid, so lukewarm,
so undecided ? They are afraid forsooth of the
power of Nicitordts, doubtful whether Eng-
land be prepared to withstand the shock of his
hostility ! Is it then come to this ? Is the
power that could strangle the lion, unable to
grapple with the mouse ? Is England that could
crush NAPOLEON, afraid to encounter NICHO-
LAS ? That the Whig Cabinet has had, and still
has, many and serious difficulties to contend with,
we grant ; still we can conceive none so serious,
none so complicated as to have prevented its inter-
ference on behalf of injured Poland. A sea-
sonable hint to NICHOLAS from the Cabinets
of London and Paris would have settled
the question at once. But the word has
not been spoken—the hint has not been given,
and what is the consequence—Warsaw has
fallen, France is in a blaze, and the " beginning
of the end" is at hand.

Of the triumphant issue of that end we have
not the slightest doubt. There are two anta-
gonist principles of good and evil, of freedom
and slavery, now at work throughout the Conti-
nent, and every successive indicatior betokens that
the good principle will prevail. The youth of
Europe is on its side ; honour, intelligence, and
liberality, fight under its august banners. Do
what they will—say what they please—intrigue
lie—imprison--•punish--tortu re—massacre—
as they list—still the despots of the continent must
either fall, or consent to reign in accordance with
the wants and wishes of the age. Nor shall
the blood of the Polish patriots be shed in vain ;
for from the smoking ruins of Warsaw chall yet
spring up a spirit destined to shake Europe to
its centre.

The French Papers contain an abstract of a
circular, dated Warsaw, August 15, and ad-
dressed to the Polish Envoys at Parts. This
documentrssia v v Se ever
isoneofthe most affecting and im-
-1) eread. It charges the Cabinets
of England and France with bad faith, and adds
that if Poland be again enslaved, its fate must
be attributed to their " hypocritical sym-
pathy." We do not wonder that this do-
cument has produced a stronger sensation at
Paris than London, for the. brave Polish Legion,