The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-27 00:00:00

THE SUN-,

money, but for the use of the hall, that any invidious
comparisons between our objects and those of other
acthtaertititpatblsehoinnlsdtihtue madetion
sshtooulddepbreivedruaswonf, n
tege which has been accorded to us now
for a
series of years. 'Why has
this favour beenathacit granted
object was recognized
e
asto us
?
good; beßuscaeucsaeoeur ourin obstitutijen inspired confidence
as e
wetr oe thethe managementfirst htehwe funds
e;il andthi
might
tc a
hues er
ewh•
to shoNovf
I cannot affirm that no ball of t s n t
dered permanently serviceable to
chaaritntarbelewpausrpeovseer
given before tae Polish balls b .
that our society is the first t a
hegtahna;s bouetriteisstachelrisahiend,
'W e have shown how
the custom of having a ball annthneallhyalal t
InGayuildh-e
hall.
for us would probably not have
thought
fit,
turnedl to account ; and now persons, who o
ofbu t
come forward with an attempt to deprive us o
it.
Hitherto we have never applied for the hall without
obtaining it ; for it was incorrectly stated in the debate
in the Court of ComenonlCouncil, that it was refused to
us in the Mayoralty of Alderman Johnson, in order
to be given to the City Ward Schools. It was not
refused then ; for it was not applied for. Finding
that it was required for a City charity in hands
likely to make it successful, we made no application
for it ; tbut, on the contrary, we gave to the ball got
up for thelCity Ward Schools our active co-operation,
and all the assistance in our power. Since 1834,
when the first ball for the Poles was given at Guild-
' hall, there has been a Polish ball here every year,
with the exception of three, one of them being the
year in which the City 'Ward Schools' Ball was
given ; in the other years, no ball whatever having
taken place, the hall was not asked for, and
stood empty, a :fact which affords some colour
to the opinion that it is not every charitable institu-
tion that can employ the hall advantageously, and
that our balls, while they have benefited the Poles,
have occasioned no loss to any one. How we might
have acted with regard to the charity for which the
use of the hall was asked the other day, in opposition
to us, I am not prepared to say. If those who conduct
it had had the courtesy to communicate with us,
and satisfy us with regard to their objects and
capabilities of making the hall available. It is possi-
ble that we might have made way for them, as we
did for the City Ward Schools. As to their conduct,
I do not wish to express an opinion further than to say,
that if I know myself at all, I feel convinced that if I
had found a charitable institution, no matter for whose
benefit, which had been in the habit of obtaining the
grant of Guildhall, I should never have come forward
to interfere with them by asking for it for the Poles,
or for any charity in which I felt a peculiar interest ;
and that if I had felt bound by duty to do so, yet
that, being on terms of acquaintance and friendly
intercourse with those at its head, I should, at any
rate, have been impelled by my own feelings of what
was right and becoming to communicate with them
on the subject, and assure them I was guided by
no unkind motive. But no communication of any
sort or kind was made to us of the intention of the
society in question to apply for the hall ; we learnt it
only from the formal official notice, and could not be
expected, under those circumstances, to waive our
claim. Whenever we come forward in behalf of the
Poles some invidious comparisons are drawn between
the claims of the Poles and those of our own poor. To
the letter we are by no means insensible, and can
safely appeal to all who are acquainted with our lives
to say whether we are in any degree more niggardly
than other men. But, while we are ready and,wi,l-
ling to assist our own people to the utmost of our'
power, we do not wish to see the Poles, who have
come among us to seek an asylum, find here nothing
but a grave. It' that were served to happen the
character for humane feelings and for generous hos-
pitality, which England has through all ages main-
tained, would be belied. It never will be so belied in
this city. Some members of the Common Council in
the recent discussion observed that, although they
had not a word to say against the Poles, the City
had done enough for them. I could not help re•
marking that not one of those who spoke against
the petition, not even the most vehement, said anything
in disparagement:against the Poles; but every one, on
the contrary, carefully guarded himself against being
supposed to ground his opposition on any dislike of
those brave patriots. With regard, however, to the
observation, that enough had been done for them; I
think those who made it forgot that the petition was
not for any money, but simply for the use of the hall.
I agree that the Corporation has done enough with
reference to pecuniary assistance. Ido not forget,
and none of the Poles, and none of the friends of
Poland forget the munificence of the Common Council,
which, a few years ago, voted a sum of 5001. for
the relief of the Poles. That was a noble donation ;
nobody would think of its being repeated; it was done
once, and it was enough. What we have obtained
now is not one farthing more from the funds of the
Corporation, but simply the means of obtaining sup-
plies from those willing to contribute them. True it
is that the Poles have been here for many years, and
it is often said that they ought by this time to he Able
to provide for themselves ; and so a great many have
provided themselves either here or by removing else-
where, and hence it is that their number has within a
certain period been reduced by one-half. But there
are others who have not been so fortunate. Foreigners
in this country always find a great difficulty in procur-
ing employment, and particularly those not bred to any
particular trade or calling ; they are also without the
resources which almost all the people have more or
less in their own country, that of relatives in some
degree better off than themselves to afford them tem-
porary aid of some kind ; and if it be difficult for
them to find work at all times, it is doubly so in
periods of general distress. Those who once em-
ployed them, perhaps cannot, from a change in their
own circumstances, continue to do so. Thus many
Poles who once could get a living here, now cannot,
and they feel the hardness of the times to the
full as much as our own people. Then it is asked,
and sometimes in a tone of indignation, why do they
not return to their own country ? If, indeed, they
could do so, and they only remained here from
choice, they would have little claim to our assistance.
But the simple answer to the question " Why do they
not go to Poland ?" is,—" they cannot." People
suppose that, like Italians, Spaniards, or Germans,
there is nothing to hinder their return, but that is a
complete mistake. Poland being divided between
Prussia, Austria, and Russia, those who belong to
that part under Prussia have been at liberty to re-
turn any time since the accession of the present
King, and they have all long been gone ; those be-
longing to that part under Austria have, since the
new state of things in Germany, been at liberty to
go to their homes, and have also gone ; but
those belonging to that part under Russia, who are
by far the most numerous, can no more return now
than they could the year after the Polish revolution.
They would be refused passports; and if they were
to attempt to find their way into the country, they
would at once be seized, and a dungeon or Siberia
would be their fate. In the course of last month I
attempted to transmit, through the intervention of a
British firm, and the British consul in a Russian
port, a letter from a refugee to his brother in Poland.
The letter was open, and I was furnished with a
translation. It related entirely to private and pecu-
niary affairs, yet such is the suspicion with which
every person residing in the Russian dominions is
viewed, who is supposed to have anything
to do with a refugee, that neither the Consul nor the
firm dared to transmit the letter, and it was accord-
ingly sent back to me. It is not many months since
a young refugee, known to me, impelled by a sort ofl
irresistible desire to revisit his native land, determined,
at all hazards, to make the attempt ; but he had
scarcely crossed the frontier, when he was taken and
—hung. The Poles, therefore, who are here do
not reside here, as some seem to suppose, be-
cause they find it an eligible country, but
ipsttuoobtltieeteshrceatwct ohtlpoloea crhttt
he de
el
som,unPb,gr u
because they cannot do otherwise ; for, let
tsos i at
ha
an
td Atria,paur st
o fywn
lhainl wethey
iaedhm
is
jecdto tonntßuas
dsima.it
France
augment the number, does
; bat, no
rot chalenscebeooslotgo
supportsnngintg
a large number of Poles
summer attempted to go there
have
w
v
not b e admite
who
o s
havee n t
back.
a co
thisl
ke s
coming from England ; and.
Shall we then not assist those °foreigners, thus
compelled to remain among us, to a bit of bread ?
Shall we not care for them in their nakedness, their
infirmity, their sickness, their old age ?It is for
thatmen ourin funds
such
condition
are
expended, thatour
an
dexertionstheare mn
e eaodue
alle of e
g theirs such
ragement of revolutionthe
pole
or disorder.
on accountisorder. Some are in-
disposed to assist t
on the continent. Those who
a reason are bound, I think, to state what they be.
likve the Poles to have done wrong; else they
will be open to the charge of vague prejudice.
I do not mean to say that every Pole is immaculate..
But I really do not know that anything can be laid
to their charge as a body. They have bees
grossly
calumniated with regard to their conduct in Prussia ;
but I believe that the press of this country, which,
last summer, repeated stories about them, in-
vented by their German enemies, was grossly
deceived on the subject ; and all those
who have taken pains to inquire into the
matter are now convinced that they were guiltless of
the atrocities laid to their charge, and, at all events,
much more sinned against than sinning. I know
that they are considered by many as turbulent, un-
quiet spirits. For my part, I own, I think it is sur-
prising they are not much more so. If you maltreat
people, enslave, oppress, and studiously demoralize
them, deprive them of their country, persecute their
religion, proscribe their language, and take
from them every motive and incitement to be good
citizens, or suffer those things to be done, you
must not be surprised if those people are restless, un-
quiet, *disaffected, and reckless ; if they are filled
with resentment, and ready fur any change. Suppose
that such a thing were to happen as that this country

were to be partitioned by foreigners, and that we were
compelled to pay taxes to them, to see their language
used in courts and public places, and to go to mass
instead of to our own swrvice. I have a strong
suspicion that we should be ready for any
alternative, however desperate, that should
give us but a chance of escape from such a state of
things, and that we should care mighty little what
foreign countries were inconvenienced or endan-
gered in our attempt to recover our rights. If that
be so, we ought to look at least with compassion on
the Poles, even when hurried into undertakings which
we may disapprove cr condemn. At any rate we ought
not to withhold sympathy from the many for the
faults of the few, or punish the unoffending for the
misdeeds of the guilty. Shall I suffer because
Smith O'Brien is guilty of high treason ? Shall
the Poles in England, whose conduct has been
exemplary, be denied assistance because some
other Poles in some other place are alleged
to have done something worthy of reprobation ? The
answer is obvious. 'The Court of Common Council
have given it in granting the hall. You, gentlemen,
whom I have the honour to address, have given it in
offering here your services as a committee. The
public will give it in crowding to Guildhall, and
crowning our ball with that success which has never
failed to attend it.—(Loud cheers.)
The committee, after transacting some routine
business, adjourned till Tuesday next.