The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON', THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 5, 1860.

further, though it is easier to preach philosophy
than to practice it, yet if any one of you can say
honestly to himself " I will make it my first object,
not to succeed, bat to deserve successs •, I will
accept—contentedly whatever fortune sends, pro-
vided only I can feel I have done my best," I say,
if any man can sincerely hold that language, and
keep his spirits to that high pitch, he is more
likely than another to obtain the prizes of life,
simply because his mind is more free from disturb-
ing influences—because he can more fully command
that inward peace, that even and dispassionate
temper, without which I believe no great intel-
lectual feat was ever accomplished—without which
I am sure, no genuine happiness was ever yet
secured. Accept, gentlemen, my congratulations
on the past, my warm good wishes for your future,
and may you so bear yourselves that those who
stand here in my place, a generation hence, may
be proud to name your names as an example and
encouragement to those who succeed you, and to
say of you, " He was a student at University Col-
lege,"
Lord FORTESCUE proposed a vote of thanks to
his Lordship, which was carried by acclamation.

and moral, were the exclusive objects dis-
cussed in those meetings or elaborated in special
committees. And this it was precisely which caused
the Russian Government last month to issue an
order which, though pretending to leave in existence
the agricultural society, forbids the greatest part .)f
its labours, and particularly insists upon the prize
medals or rewards allotted to such inhabitants as
cannot appear in person at Warsaw being for-
warded to them, not
.through the authorised corre-
spondents of the society, but by the Russian local
officials. And no wonder, for whatever is profitable
to a Polish community must under any of the three
spoilers of Poland be looked at with a profound
distrust, and with that hatred which the offender
ever feels for his victim, until she lies prostrate and
senseless. To escape such hatred and distrust, a
Pole must neither be religious, nor simply honest,
nor well-informed, nor rich. But in that very
hatred and suspicion, friends of Poland, trusting in
God's mercy and in the approaching era of justice
amongst nations, may find fresh motives of perse-
verance : for blood and tears cannot be drawn from
a corpse ; and, in truth, Poland is a daily scene of
blood and tears. Yet this is not all that friends of
Poland may be comforted with. The Polish nation
not only lives ; its life is laborious, patient, per-
severing, and bears the manifest stamp of improve-
ment towards political maturity. I'll mention one
single feature of it. Wherever they are allowed to
act in a body, we rejoice in seeing most gratifying
readiness to support chosen leaders by a willing
discipline. It is the case at Warsaw ; it is also the
case in Prussian Poland, whence the members elected
for the Berlin parliament, about thirty in number,
never appear, never speak in any of the two
houses composed of Germans, kit as the authorised
delegates of their fellow members, representing
that part of Poland which by the public law of
Europe is annexed to Prussia, not incorporated.
Such a body of men in a province is in itself a lead-
ing power for the vital forces of the country, an
enlightened and steady moderator of its energies
and generous impulses, and a safeguard against
all premature, intemperate, or wickedly suggested
outbursts of disgust and impatience, however
strong be the motives and occasions for it. And
now, my lords and gentlemen, I beg of you to
grant me another instant of attention, and I beg at,
the same time to throw myself upon your indul-
gence. I thanked you with all may heart as friends
of Poland; to you, as Britons, I confess, I cannot
refrain from expressing some anxiety. I am an
old admirer of your country, and one who might
perhaps deserve the name of a staunch and delibe-
rate friend of England. I may then be allowed to
express my profound regret at the present state of
politics between your powerful country and your
no less powerful neighbour, France. Concert be-
sween these two nations and Governments has been

for centuries, and more still in latter years, the
wish and aspiration of all good and truly wise
men, and on the other hand it was the best hope
and expectation of all those who suffered from in-
justice or oppression. England anel France may
be said to be the heart of civilisation, and the seat
of that power which in the long run rules above all
powers, however mighty in appearance, I mean
public opinion. I emphatically beg to repeat it—
, Great Britain and France, when acting in concert,
are all-powerful over the rest of the human race ;
and not so because of their armies, fleets, and trea-
sures, but because their civilisation, which is the
offspring of Christian revelation itself, actually
rules over the minds and convictions of the whole
of mankind. United they can do good without
limit; indifferent to one another, or, worse still,
estranged and distrustful of each other, they are a
dead-weight upon the community of men and
I nations; instead of leading all of them prudently
but surely into the path of justice and right, they
sow among nations and governments the seeds of
future wars, and may, in the end, bring upon them-
selves the most frightful retaliation of Providence,
by a war—a truly fratricidal war—and a mutuai
destruction, such as history never recorded. When
I express my regret and anxiety as to the idea of a
possible war between Great Britain and France,
being as it were in both countries the topic of the
day, do not think, gentlemen, that I any way
advert to the great sacrifices which both at
this moment undertake for defence and arma-
ments. Nothing could be further from what I feel
When last week I witnessed that grand and never-
equalled spectacle of the volunteers of Great Bri-
tain reviewed by their gracious Queen, their per-
fectly wonderful military bearing caused me no•
thing but the heartiest pleasure. And when I hear
that the Queen's regular army is now double what
it was before the late Russian war, and that the
British Parliament had at last determined to attend
to the warnings of its best captains and statesmen
by devoting large sums to army, navy, and defences,
I unhesitatingly conclude that the time is near ap-
proaching when England, safe at home and suffi-
ciently armed, will repudiate that pretended wis-
dom and pretended charity which begins at home,
and will feel inclined to use her force for doing
good to others, since that force will have become
cffectirc and ever ready at hand. I know, though
it may not be in this audience, that I may be ex-
posed to the reproach of wishing Great Britain to
run into Quixotic adventures, and I will not deny
that, to my feeling, had the celebrated Spanish
Saladine not been mad, he would have left a good
deal that is worthy of imitation by many who think
themselves wise. But while giving to wisdom and
prudence their due right, I trust I may be allowed
to "say of great nations and Governments what
would be a truism when applied to great men and
families in their respective countries, viz., that if
favoured by, birth or accident with greater means
than their fellow-men, they cannot, without incur-
ring deserved reproach on the part of the latter,
withdraw from public burdens, and by shutting
themselves up in the mere enjoyment of riches and
talent, deprive their country of the benefit she had
a right to expect at their hands. After using this
ward talent, I may perhaps be allowed to draw an
example from the highest source. Every one of
you, gentlemen, remembers the lot which was as-
signed to the man in the Gospel who had buried his
talent. But again, lam told "France can never be
trusted. What is the object for which France goes
on arming a formidable fleet ?" Without being
in the confidence of France and of her Emperor,
I think I may answer the question with some
chance of being right. Why, gentlemen, France
wants to have a fleet precisely for the same motive
that you want to have a larger army than you re-
quired before so many and admirable inventions
deprived you of the security your insular position
hitherto gave you. You must now have a strong
defensive army, because France may some day use
hers for aggression. And France is determined to
have a strong fleet because, however strong for a
continental war, she cannot bear the mere appear-
ance of her policy even being influenced by a vague
feeling of your superiority at sea. I rejoice in see-
ing France providing herself with a powerful fleet,
just as I rejoice to see Great Britain provided with
a powerful and ready army. I trust nothing is
more calculated to put an end to a reciprocal petty
jealousy, and when that is realised, I trust, more-
over, that the two nations will find it far easier to
combine their forces for the improvement of the con-
dition of men at large. Observe, gentlemen, that
all-powerful for doing good when united, these two
nations are powerless to combine for evil. Public
opinion in each of them might be blinded as to what
they do themselves ; but each would blush, and ac-
tually revolt at the sight of any evil task being
undertaken in concert and complicity with an asso-
ciate. Unwilling to bear the self-reproach which
in their present state of Christian civilisation each
of them would feel when entering on an unjustifi-
able course, each would eagerly throw the blame
upon the other, and so the felonious association
would of itself cease, or they must return within the
pale of justice. But, again, on both sides of the
channel, I hear people repeat, "Trust them, we never
can." Now, to that I would venture to answer—
Let England or France, whichever of the two, be
well armed and provided, at land and at sea, let her
be strong in body and healthy in mind, and truly
anxious for the good of others, not for mean profit
to herself, and give pledges of her honesty; then
let her, though siaglehanded, not stop at neutrality,
but, with proper wisdom and discretion, step for-
, _ _

itself again to the two great nations of the West
to apply their united forces to the benefit of the
human race. Austria, Russia, and Prussia herself
happen, at one and the same time, notwithstanding
their numberless soldiers, to labour under a state of
weakness and disorganisation. They are the very
oppressors of Poland, but they do not only weigh
heavily upon their Polish subjects, they at the
same time trample upon binding treaties. The let-
ter of the treaties which bind them towards Europe
and Poland has proved a deception ; but the Ppirit of
those enactments is clear—it stipulates emphati-
cally that the Polish nation, upon the whole extent
which it possessed before the first dismemberment
in 1772, and under whatever Governments she re-
mains, shall preserve its national life and such re-
presentative institutions as can best secure nationa-

iity. Upon that ground Great Britain and France
may, whenever they choose, open tho question ;
and if they do not in due time find the proper op-
portunity for it, they cannot plead that they have
wanted the power, they must acknowledge that as
Christian nations they were not true to their duty.
But I repel the supposition. I am ready to acknow-
ledge that hitherto we ourselves may have failed in
showing to demonstration that we had profited by
the lessons of misfortune, that we are no more the
nation which, after centuries of heroic deeds, allowed
herself to be overtaken in sleep, but that we are
both awakened to our duties and taught how best to
perform them. As to this latter assertion you will
be pleased, gentlemen, to hear in what words, at
one of the great courts of Europe, the ambassador
of one of the sovereigns who hold Poland in bond-
age was heard to confirm it. After deploring the
difficulties weighing upon his government, he said,
" A new danger henceforth threatens us ; Polonism
is decidedly awakening and growing upon us."
May God grant that the truth of these words should
soon be confirmed by signs every day more unques-
• tionable, and may those signs speak to the hearts
and minds of the two great nations of the West !

POERIO ON THE NEAPOLITAN

GOVERNMENT.

During a debate which took place on Friday in
the Sardinian Parliament on Neapolitan affairs,
Baron Poerio was trged by his friends to address
the house, and in a clear, manly, sonorous tone, by
no means impaired by the ill-health under which
he has so long been labouring, and with a fluency
and elegance of speech characteristic of the southern
Italians, said— •

"It was my intention to address a few questions
to the hon. President of the Council of Ministers
respecting the late events in Naples as soon as I
had collected sufficient infvmation ; but as my hon.
friend the Deputy Mancini, in giving his opinion
on the merits of the present question, has spoken at
full length on the subject, and as the hon. Minister
of the Interior has given an answer with which I,
taking into consideration the reserve suggested by
present circumstances, declare myself highly satis-
fied, I may perhaps be allowed to associate myself
to the wishes so elegantly expressed by my hon.
friend, and to add a few plain words. No doubt
the instinct of self-preservation.urges governments
as well. as individuals to those resolutions which at
first glance seem the most desperate. A drowning
man, hopeless of any other escape, will, in the agony
of death, cling to and catch at any object within his
'reach. I, therefore, can well understand that the
Government of Naples, which up to this moment
was always the most fierce and implacable foe to
Italian nationality—that GovernmeLt which, with
the most cowardly obstinacy, persecuted the gene-
rous men who aspired to that common object,
shoull now all at once change its language, and
put forth words of independence, patriotism,
and nationality, seeking the protection and refuge
of this Government, and suing, at least, for its
moral support. Gentlemen, I have often seen men
laden with the most hideous crimes, when brought
before the court which is to try them and unable
to deny their offences, put forward words of com-
punction and repentance, Every Government,
gentlemen, has its traditions, from which it cannot
depart. We need no argument to be convinced of
this truth. The traditions of the Neapolitan Go-
vernment are hereditary perjury. The new King,
almost to prove the legitimacy of his descent, is
preparing to perjure himself, and, in order to qua-
lify himself for the task of forswearing himself, he
must first swear. It is with that view that he de-
clares himself ready to swear constitutions and al-
liances. His object in proposing an alliance with
the King's Government is obvious. He is only
meditating the re-conquest of Sicily. These are
the old fox-like wiles of the Neapolitan Govern-
ment. As these have thrice availed them, they
hope even now, from the same arts, to attain the
same results, But, if these are very clearly the
intentions of the Government of Naples, there is
also no doubt but the Government of the King—of
that King who for the last 12 years has held aloft
the banner of Italian nationality, will never deeert
its post, never will associate itself with a faith-
breaking Government, a Government by the nature
of its very institutions an implacable foe to Italian
regeneration. I therefore trust that the King's
Ministers, following up the national Italian policy
which they have so nobly pursued heretofore, will
never press the hand of that Government which
has so long combated our independence, waging
against us that secret subterranean war which is
, very often so much more injurious than an open
war. As I am intimately convinced that the
King's Government will fulfil this sacred duty—a
duty imposed upon them by all their foregoing
policy and by the future of Italy—as a member of
this Parliament, whereon rest the hopes of Italy, I
declare that I give my full assent to this bill, being
certain that all the means entrusted to the Govern-
ment by the vote of the representatives of the
nation will always be employed for the increase of
the public prosperity, and for the future welfare of
Italy." (Bravo! bravo ! loud applause.).