The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-21 00:00:00

LIBERT

GLAND,

TO THE RIGHT HIJAT. THE LORD VIS-
COUNT PALATERSTON, SECRETARY
OF STATE FOR FOREIGV A FFA /RS.

My Lord,—Ft.orn tO wise,-thevirtaous, anti the
patriotic truth wilt never fail to obtains c,ltin and dis-
passionate hearing, however humble the source from
which she may find utterance, and however unconge-
nial msy be her dictates with the sentiments of the
passing hour.

There aro times and season) in the annals of nations
(as well as in the lives of individuals) when her lessons
derive, from the force of contrast, a redoubled influence
over the minds of the reflecting and conscientious, as
the tread of the solitary sentinel sounds more distinctly
amid the solemn stillness of night.
We are in the midst of a great national festival, destined,
as we fondly hope, to disseminate throughout the globe
sentiments of amity and brotherly love, and to elevate
the British name in the general estimation of the civi-
lized world.

Will it produce those results? Lot 113 cherish the
anticipation; but let U 3 not allow the present to blind
us to the past and to the future.

Distinguished as this kingdom is by the advanced
;!ate of the arts of civilizltiou, it is Lint by scientific or
iterary achievem nts that the Brithn island, have ac-
quired the general veneration of rnankip(i. Tee love of
Liberty, justice, and humanity in its inhabitants, and the
irmness and good faith of its statesmen, are the influ-
ences to which this empire owes its gre.tness—are the
influences with which the confidence and respect of sur-
rounding nations will endure or pats away.
In these, the essential elements of true honour, this
kingdom is not richer than it was in the times of Hamp-
den and of Milton, or in the more rec,nt days of Clark-
son and of Wilberforce. Can we safely assert that it
is not poorer?
In minds rendered grave by experience, suffering, and
reflection, the wonderful accumulation of the fruits of
human industry and genius, of which our metropolis is
now the scene, will not fail to suggest sentiments and
recollections of a very different character from the im-
pressions that ,will occupy the thoughts of the young, the
ught-hearted and the gay! Can the patriot or the phi-
lanthropist, while contemplating these diversified trea-
sures, forget the recent misfortunes of the lands from
which they have been sent, or blind himself to the pain-
ful contrast between the splendour of these noble pro-,
ductions, and the gloom and sorrow that dwell among
the nations of Europe, who have recently passed through
the fiery ordeal of war and revolution, and aro bowed
down by the yoke of oppression, against which they have
as yet struggled in vain?
From this contest the people and the Government of
Great Britian, however reluctantly, stood aloof. Sym-
pathy and an ardent wish for the triumph of the cause
of liberty and justice were all they could give in a con-
test embracing so vast a field. But there was one ex-
ception, which, for good or for evil, will form an era in
the annals of two great nations and in the history of
civilized man.

A lawless despotism, which had perfidiously crushed
he liberties and destroyed the happiness of its own sub-
ects, audaciously menaced the sacred laws of hospi-
ality and the neutral rights of an ancient and unotrend-
mg ally who appealed, and not in vain, to two great
protectors.

The heart of every friend of liberty and of peace
beat high at the spectacle, when the fleets of England
and of France were seen joined in happy union, by a
mission devoted to the sacred claims of humanity, and to
the general welfare of the human race. Like the bow
of heaven, in primaeval ages, this event was contem-
plated by the wise and good of both kingdoms as a
symbol of future harmony and goodwill, as an augury
'hat the storms of war, which had so long desolated
two nations fitted by Providence to bless and benefit
each other, and to advance the general welfare of man-
kind, had passed away, and for ever.
I have touched on the past. Need I dwell on the
present? Is there a son of Britain or of France that
can contemplate the sequel without sentiments of sorrow
and of shame? It was not at Fontenot', at Caubul, or in
Walcheren that the arms of England were tarnished—
and the honour of France was unsullied by Cressy,
Agincourt, and Waterloo: for the fate of war does not
lepend on the valour of armies, but on the decrees of an
-iverruling Providence. While the good and enlight-
tned must rejoice to behold two once hostile nations
more closely united together by those achievements of
human genius which connect the once rival shores, and
oy a participation in the d►scoveries of science and the
Joductions of man's industry. It must be remembered,
oeverthelesa, that there is a still firmer and nobler bond
)f international union, without which all others are
weak, frail, and worthless.

That bond is the sentiment of mutual respect—a sen-
iment which has never been extinguished by the
rivalries of commerce, or even by the deadly conflicts
of war. But this sentiment (the only true foundation
of friendship between either individuals or nations) may,
nevertheless, be dissolved in a period of profound peace,
devoted to the interchange of hospitality and the plea-
sures of social intercourse.
Can we forget, amid the festivities of this transient
occasion, the tate of the most illustrious of the objects
of our joint intervention, and that his protracted cap-
tivity continues to form an insult to the general senti-
ments of humanity, and a shameless violation of the
solemn treaty to which we were contracting parties?
We may attempt to blind ourselves, but the calm
judgment of posterity will rightly appreciate the events
,f the times in which we live, and the plain truths con-
veyed by this humble communication will find a response
in the breasts of those distinguished strangers who, from
every civiliz3d country, now throng our metropli%
" People of England and of France," they will say,
" had you never proffered your help nor promised your
protvetion, it is true you would have surrendered your
place among mankind as the guardians of civilization and
:ho laws of nations; but it would, nevertheless, have
been better for your reputation had you abstained from
all intervention; fur to mock the victim by a vain inter-
cession, to fill the cup of hope to the brim, and thou per-
mit it to bo perfidiously dashed from the lips, is a course
that will render the name of the illustrious statesman
who still languishes in the dungeons of Kutaya an inde-
lible symbol of reproach, in the eyes of future ages, to
you and to the kingdoms to which you are proud to
belong."
I beg to conclude this letter with an expression of my
earnest hope that a renewal of your Lordship's humane
efforts, seconded and responded to by the English and
French nations, may serve to efface this stigma on the
fair fame of both,—l have the honour to be your Lord
ship's obedient servant,
June 12, 1851.