The Sun.
London, England, 1832-04-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TAB PUBLIC JOURNALS.

We arc thought not to have dealt very fairly
between the Dukc and the Doctor—between his
Grace and D.D.; not that we have treated the
latter too harshly, but that we have spared the
former. Our task was, and is, a very simple
one. They both stated that extracts from the
Duke of Buckingham's letter to the King were
inserted in the Times newspaper. They had
seen and read them. The Bishop said—"lf those
extracts were authentic, it was plain they cc uld
only be furnished to that paper bysome person
who had access to the original documents ;”
meaning to accuse the King's Ministers. The
Duke said, " I have only to add, that I was not
the medium of communication with the Times,
but the extracts from my letter to the King which
appeared in that journal were copied verbatim."
—(Duke of Buckingham's speech of Friday
last.) Monstrous ! Prodigious ! Incredible !
We have now done with the Bishop, though it
is probable that some of his friends in the Up-
per House may not have done with him. But
will it be believed, can it be believed, after the
Duke of Buckingham has thus asserted that
he had seen extracts from his letter to the
King in the Times journal, and that " they were
copied verbatim" from the original document,
—can it, we say, be believed, that no such ex-
tracts ever did appear in the Times journal,—
that the editor never either saw or heard one

tittle of the letter in question, and therefore
could have put none of it into the journal, and
that all that ever did appear• in the Times was
the letter of an anonymous correspondent,
stating that a letter had been sent to the King
by the Duke of Buckingham ? We
leave a space vacant, as the author of Tristram
Shandy says, " for the reader to swear in any
oath he is most accustomed te.," only hoping it
will be an innocent one. What. the Duke will
say to this we cannot conceive, only, if it were
not a contamination in his Grace to correspond
with a newspaper, we will thank him just to
point out to us those extracts in this journal
which he declared to be " verbatim copies "
from his own letter. If his Grace cannot do
this, we think his countrymen will form no very
high estimate of the consideration which he uses
before he makes a grave and important assertion,

—an assertion calculated and intended to affect
the honour of those in whom his Majesty re-
poses confidence.— Times.
The Legislature of this country, in authorizing
the King's subjects, nay, enjoining such of them
as were colonists in the West Indies, to make
slaves—that is, beasts—of their fellow-creatures,
committed the most flagrant sacrifice of principle
to cupidity that ever disgraced the British name.
Had the purpose been, bond
.fide, to educate
miserable heathen captives, rescued by money
from foes who would have butchered them, into
industrious husbandmen, free citizens, and be-
lieving Christians, and had even a protracted
course of coercion, accompanied by one of sedu-
lous and useful instruction, been necessary to
such improvement in the final condition of the
negro, and honestly employed for its accomplish-
ment, the end must have been applauded, the
means might have been justified, and last of all,
that severe retribution which seems to be impend-
ing equally over the guilty parent state, and her
colonial offspring,—a retribution whereby the
wrongs of the African helot are like to be fearfully
avenged upon his task-master,—would have
been altogether escaped. In the question which
now involves the fate of the West Indies, and
which disturbs both the prudence and the con-
science of every man in England who is not
wholly void of them, two great principles of
general civilization, as well as of the British Con-
stitution, appear to be at open variance,—viz.,
security of person and of estate. That there
never did exist, since the institution of Chris-
tianity, a right, political, moral, or religious, in
one human being, to take another, who bad
neither assaulted nor offended him, by brutal
force, and make the sufferer his property, and
above all for the purpose of wringing advan,
cages exclusively selfish from his toil, is a
truth which will not now, we presume, be ques-
tioned. Nevertheless, the Parliament of Eng-
land thought proper to assume that right, and
deputed the exercise of it, on certain con-
ditions, and for definite uses commercial and
political, to his subjects. It would be a rare
and curious proceeding for individual citizens to
impugn the authority of the state in what it per.
initted, or what it prescribed to them to per-
form, under circumstances in which they had
been placed by that same authority. Thousands
of British subjects, therefore, bestowed their
money on land in the western colonies, and more
money on the purchase of negroes for the cuki-
vation of the territory so acquired, they and their
representatives or successors continuing thus to
employ and augment their means for little less
;Ilan two centuries. We say nothing of the
taste or feeling, or Christian rectitude, which
which prompted individuals to accept this de-
legated usurpation from a culprit Government,,
ind to embark in the bloody traffic of man's
flesh : but this we do say—that if the slave-,
traders formerly—and if, since the abelition
the trade, time slave proprietors have fuitiilA the
terms of the contract imposed upon them as
colonists, by the mother-country,--if they have
bought their slaves according to law, and worked
diem lawfully, and extracted sugar from their
daily toil, and have consumed a large
Amount of British manufactures, not be-
ing suffered or disposed to try any other
.narket, and have fulnished the 13titish nation
with enormous quantities of sugar, on which
taxes constituting about one-seventh of the whole
revenues of the state had been levied,—if, wa
say, the colonists have fulfilled their obligation
to the sovereign power which undertook to sane.
Lion and protect them and their property, they
cannot, with any shadow of regard to justice, be
deliberately ruined in their posse&sions, so legally
acquired and administered, because the parent
state may choose to reprobate her own former
policy, and to substitute a different system for
that on which she encouraged, and, morally
speaking, compelled, her subjects to stake tl;eir
Jteir lives and fortunes down to this pesent.
flour. As advocates, then, for the general rights
of human nature, we affirm, that the slave pro-:
oerty ought never to have ben planted in the
:'nee soil of our King's dominions, to which it
:vas so manifest an exotic. As friends to the
,;eneral welfare of mankind, we say that it is im-
possible to meditate the perpetuity of negro bon-
.tage, and that the West Indies must be lookcd
at without blinking as a region which the slaves
of African race have a right to inhabit one day
in the character of free citizens of the Brit!sh
empire. It we are asked at what period we
conceive that the negroes ought to be lifted from
-livery to liberty, the answer is, whenever they
Lre sufficiently advanced in the arts of life as to
able to maintain themselves and their children
in comfort and decency by their own unassisted
labour, and at the same time so familiarized rids

the duties of Christian society, as to respect the
civil authority of the, !.v.r, and to abstain from
offering violence t the persons and property of
their neighbours. Of their general attainment
of such qualifications for freedom, the state her-
self must be the judge. There is no other.
And, as between the legislature and the negro,
the question of this emancipation can be allowed
t) turn upon no hinge but this,--the capacity of
the slave to enjoy his liberty, without violating
the duties of f% freeman. The whole matter,
nevertheless, is by no means settled, by deter-

mining, however satisfactorily, the question be-
tween the negro and the state. A new and
thorny one arises between the legislature and the
planter. It is foolish, and indeed iniquitous, to
declaim against the spurious nature of that pro-
perty which the planter possesses in his slave.
The origin of that property (and perhaps of
many other kinds of property) may have been
atrocious : but it has been made legitimate by
Act of Parliament, and it cannot be again
bastardized upon any even the most solemn
plea of conscience or political error. If the
State destroys the West Indian's property,
:t must indemnify him, or there is no
iaw in England. We cannot, either as against
the slave or the planter, plead our own wrong
as a pretence for making others its victims to
eternity. So much for the principles of the
question, which assume-1, that the negro must
be made free the first moment at which his libera-
tion would not be pernicious to his own well-being;
and which draw after them, as an inevitable con-
exquence, that he must be carefully and diligently
educated, to hasten the arrival of that blessed
moment ; `3, that the planter, if stripped of his
lawful property by the State, must by the State
be indemnified. Now, with regard to expe-
diency—that is to say the most beneficial mode
of giving effect to the principles of abstract
justice—we must say that nothing appears to us
more false or mischievous than a doctrine put
forth by some of our contemporaries, that nothing
can be done for the slave short of positive and
entire emancipation. If the Legislature be pro-
hibited from taking any but one extreme course,
he advocates for the opposite extreme are at
once debarred of all hope, and confirmed in their
utmost violence. If there be no medium, let
these irreconcilable politicians inform us which
extreme is to be adopted ? Are the negroes fit
for instantaneous liberty ? Lord Brougham,
with equal manliness and sagacity, declares
that no man is wild enough for that. Then,
of not, the other extreme »zu be had re-
course to, and all idea of emancipation be for
ever abandoned. We do not believe our morn-
ing contemporary capable of a sinister or insidi-
ous proposition ; but, to discourage the Govern-
ment from doing that which Lord Goderich,
with much good sense and right feeling, declares
to he the only advantageous policy,—viz. re-
straining on one side the abuses of power, and
on the other the paroxysms of headlong and
-eeetravagant impatience, is to insure ages of the
roost dreary bondage to the black, or to both
feihite and black the agonies of a bloody and
terrible convulsion. There are, undoubtedly, a
number of regulations which might be enforced
with great utility, and without much difficulty,
iipon the colonial assemblies. Saturday ought
to he given up to the negro for his temporal
affair=, and Sunday for those of a more sacred
character, the Sunday market being transferred
to the preceding. Alanumissions ought to be
conipidsory, upon the payment of definite sums

marriages by Dissenters and magistrates rendered
legal ; and slave-protectors appointed, but with-
-0;11 the power of uninvited visitation of families
at the caprice of the protector,—an inquisitorial
prerogative, and liable to the grossest abuse. It
would be easy to have complaints transmitted to
the protector on behalf of a slave, and then it
would become his bounden duty to attend to
them. Government has now granted the Cotn-

rnittee of Inquiry so long solicited by the Wesi
India interest, but without promising to abstain
frcm the enforcement of the Orders in Council

imes.

It is impossible to speculate with any certainty
a.: to the effects which the inquiry conceded by
the Government to the West India body will

produce upon the state of the colonies ; but it is
obvious that, in conceding to the demand for
inquiry, the Government have adopted the most
straightforward and independent course, whether
it be the one most likely to allay the existing
irritation or not. It certainly appears more ju-
dicious, as well as more just, to encounter the
evils of inquiry, whatever they may be, than add
to the dissatisfaction and exasperation of the
st India proprietors by refusing so feasible a
request as investigation under the circumstances
in which their interests are placed. Every per-
cion who has bestowed a thought upon this im-
portant subject must be aware of the difficult

- -
situation in which every Government has been

placed whith respect to those colonies every since

the passing of that great measure which has im-
mortalized the names of Fox and Wilberforce,
and exalted the character of England herself
above _surrounding nations. The difficulties of
the Government arose not merely from the po-

iition in which it stood between the slave-owners
and the slaves, but also between the slave-owners
and the extreme abolitionists. To those have
been lately added difficulties of another nature ;
c:ve allude to the general depreciation of all West
India property, the whole making together in
their combination one of the most difficult and

cotnplicated cases that ever an Administration
had to deal with. The Committee, it may be
hoped, will lead to some amicable arrangement
with the colonies upon the several points at
issue; but there is one point which it would be
weakness in the Government to compromise, and
wickedness to abandon, and that is the mainte-

nance of that system of amelioration preparatory
to the final extinction of slavery, which they
are bound by the resolutions of Parliament,
as well as by the spirit of the Act which abo-
lished the trade in slaves, eventually to accom-
plish. Looking forward to the completion of this
great and good work—we do not say that it
should take place in disregard of the rights of
property—but looking forward to it as a consum-
mation which must and ought to take place, we
cannot agree with some of our contemporaries
who represent the condition of the slave as one
incapable of amelioration. The effect of such
an opinion, if it should become general, would
be to stop the experiment of preparing the slaves
for freedom ; and the effect of that would be
either to perpetuate slavery until the unhappy
race became extinct, or to bestow freedom under
circumstances which might render it a misfortune

and a terror. But how stands the fact With

respect to this argument ? The condition of the
slaves has already been much ameliorated. We
do not believe that it has been improved to such
an extent as the advocates of the colonies con-
tend for ; but that much of its horror has been
corrected, the other extreme party, the immediate
abolitionists themselves, admit. Instead of

ascribing the resistance which has taken place to

the improvement of the slaves' condition, we as-
cribe it to the difficulty which has been opposed
by the Colonial Governments to every step of
its progress. Whatever benefit the Colonial
Governments may have rendered to the slaves,
the latter must have perceived that there has long
been a misunderstanding and a struggle on the
subject between the Colonial and the parent Go-
vernments. It cannot be assumed that because,
under such circumstances, the slaves rebelled,
they would have done so if both Governments
had acted in harmony. The affairs of the West
Indies are difficult enough, but we hope there is
no law of nature so unfavourable to their arrange-
ment as that which would deny the possibility of
ameliorating the condition of the slaves, and pre-
paring them for a state of freedom.—Morning
Herald.

The endeavours to wound Ministers by re-
kindling the old jealousy regarding France, are
made with as much perseverance as ever. The
idea sought to be inculcated is, that France ne•
ver can be on a friendly footing with England :
that the French are constantly on the alert to
acquire a supremacy in Europe ; and that the
Ministers of England are the dupes of their
French prepossessions. The Legislation has been
so often the arena of these attacks on Ministers,
that we may say without much hesitation, that
the people have been nearly sickened of the
subject. However, the whole of the doleances
have been embodied into a volume, written with
considerable vivacity, by one who pretends to
have returned after a two years' absence from his
native country, and who evidently knows some-
thing ofthe politics ofthe continent. The title of the
work is sufficiently expressive—" England and
France ; or, A Cure for the Ministerial Gallo-
mania," and the epigraph also indicates the po-
litical school : " Against that morbid desire of
conquest and aggrandisement, which, for
the last forty years, has been the character-
istic of the history of the French Nation."
—(Speech of the Duke of Wellington in
the House of Lords, March 17, 1832.) We
presume that this gentleman is a diplomate, one
of the gentlemen of Tory principles, whom
Lord Grey enables to live abroad at the expense
of the nation, in order to counteract his own
policy, and to supply his enemies at home with
information to be used against himself. We
suspect this, because all sciences are as nothing
in his eyes compared with the knowledge of
foreign " Every man (quoth he) can be
a political philosopher ; let him read but a few
more articles (in a review) and the title pages of
Jeremy Bentham—who ever read further ?—and
he is prepared to destroy every institution of the
country. But foreign policy is more easily
brought to the test, and requires a somewhat
deeper study, longer observation, personal ac-
quaintance with the States and Statesmen of
Europe, and, above all, a really, philosophic
mind—a mind above prejudice or passion
that will survey every thing with a comprehensive
and enlightened spirit, and never forget that
the main object of all its workings i 3 to
increase and to maintain the glory, and the
wealth, and the happiness of one's country.
The. great Statesman is one who, despis-
ing a facile but false popularity, would render

. .
his country prosperous, even in spite of itself.
Foreign policy being a study thus difficult to
acquire, has of late been conveniently voted of
very subordinate importance. To my mind,
who am of the old school, it is of primary, of
paramount importance; upon our foreign policy
the safety as well as the glory of this country, as
a great empire, depends. A few more years
like the present, and we may in good time be-
come the rivals of Ceylon or of Cyprus." This
reminds us of the 'admirable scene in 310145 re,

where the music-master and fencing-master fall
by the ears. " Hence may be seen of what
consideration we ought to be in a State, and how
much the science of arms excites all the other
useless sciences." We presume the science of
foreign policy may be compendiously described
as the science of finding pretexts for setting na-
tions by the ears, without any intelligible ob-
ject. Persuade the French that the English

to gain an ascendancy over them, and the
English that the French will never rest till they
humble them, and he must be a bungling
diplornate indeed, who cannot humour them by
finding a pretext for a quarrel—a very pretty
quarrel too. The glory of the country alone must
be carelessly cultivated, without producing a
quarrel. This diplomate, however, is not quite
consistent. Medical men say there cannot be
two diseases in the system at the same time. But
we are threatened with Russian ascendancy, and
Austrian ascendancy, and French ascendancy,
and all at the same time too. It has been said

:hat Europe continued under the illusion that

Spain was seeking universal Monarchy, and
required to be humbled, till the conquests of
Louis XI V. proved that Spain was powerless,

and France vas preponderant. Some people
think that jealousy of Russia would be some-

what better placed now than jealousy of France.
Without overrating the present resources of Rus-

sia, it is pretty clear, that if she be allowed to unite
all Poland to her other dominions, she is in a

very strong aggressive position with regard to
Germany, the very heart of Europe. "It is
the fashion (says our author) to abuse the late
Lord Londonderry; he was a Holy Alliance

man, a despot, a tool of Metternich.' A queer sort
of Holy Alliance man l—he would neveracknow-
ledge that arrangement; and an odd kind of tool
in the hands of Metternich, whom France for ten

years called the tool of Castlere%ch. At
any rate lie obtained at the great Congress the
nationality of Poland—nay more, he guaranteed it.
And Lord Grey the liberal, the champion of
freedom and the child of Refurm, what has he

done ? He has tamely witnessed the subjuga-
tion and extincticn of an unhappy and heroic
people—whose revolt his favourite France occa-
sioned, and whose existence his misgoverned
England secured. But what could we have
done F piteously exclaim Messrs. Grey and
Perier, as they shrug their shoulders over the
destruction of their proteg6 ? I thought that
England and France allied could do any thing.
What could you have done ? Why, have
abandoned Belgium, which had claims neither
upon your sympathy nor your support. The
truth is too obvious—Poland has been sacrificed
to Belgium." So the French and English
Governments ought to have made war against
Russia for the sate of Poland—the English by
sending a fleet to the Baltic, and the French by
marching an army through Germany to Poland.
This, we suppose, is foreign policy, and foreign
policy in due time brings forth loans and taxes,
and general miser:, and revolution and anarchy.
The consequence of the incorporation of Poland
with Russia must be felt in other countries be-
sides France and England. The people of Austria
may he stupid, and the Prussians and other Ger-
mans equally fat witted ; but if Russia proceeds to
realize any of the schemes attributed to her, the
German nations are at least more interested in
frustrating them than France and England,

Without the concurrence of Austria and
Prussia it is in vain to think of combating
Russia; and when the Government of those
countries appeal to Europe against Russia, it
will be time for us to deliberate. Why should
one nation be bound to redress all the political
grievances in the world ? Well, but our diplo.
mate would also have us afraid of Austria.
" The Austrians (he says), who, until the An-
cona expedition, appeared to be influenced by
some lingering respect for the laws of nations,
and the representatives of their allies, have now
boldly thrown off the mask. They take serious
advantage of this expedition pour rice. The
roads of the Tyrol swarm with their troops and
their artillery ; and they march not a regiment or
two, not a petty division into Southern Italy, but
a whole corps d'armee. Italy the Austrians
now possess: in Southern Germany they are
more active than we imagine. Beware of
Austria! In another year, if the Gallornania do
not subside, where will be the famous balance of
power which has cost us so much blood and
treasure to establish ?" So we must also take up
the cudgels against the Austrians—to prevent them
from destroying the balance ofpower. All we can say
is, that we wish the Austrians fairly in possession of
all Italy, for we are mistaken if the independence
of Italy will ever be achieved by other means. But
another illustration of the science of foreign po-
licy—we must also combat France. " The
mal-aise of France (he tells us) is not occa-
sioned either by distress among the people, or
by an alliance between the mob and the Minis-
ters ; quite the reverse ; but it is caused by in-
trigues which have for their object the disturb-
ance and humiliation of all other countries."
" I maintain that no Government can subsist in
France (nor, indeed I am ready to admit, in any
country), unless it acts in accordance with the
genius of the people. This is the conviction of
all parties in that country, and is as deeply im-
pressed upon the heart of a Bourbon as it could
be in the case of any little corporal, who could
spring from the ranks and seize the diadem of
the Emperor Charlemagne. One advantage of
an age of revolution is, that Cabinet secrets are
sometimes revealed. Proofs at this moment
exist in this country, that the broken thread of
AI. de Chateaubriand's Belgian intrigues was
caught up and re-connected by M. de Po-
lignac, who continued to maintain emissaries
0
in the Low Countries.'

Every Government will, in France, be soon
branded with the unpopular title of legitimate,
the general tenour of whose career shall be a
respect for the balance of power, and a conci-
liatory deference to the rights of its neighbours."
Then we are told, " the principle on which the
British empire has been founded, has simply
been by acting for ourselves alone, and by pursu-
ing at the same time a policy which rendered
our supremacy the guarantee of the security of
all other countries. Such a course of action
can only be the career of a great people, a na-
tion possessing resources equal to the magnitude
of its genius ; and under such a course of action
is now, perhaps, the only basis of extended em-
pire. One power alone has never been our in-
strument, ever our rival, often our victim. A
worthy rival she has been, although an un-
successful one ; a noble victim, and a costly sa-
crifice. If geographical position and genial clime
—if internal resourses and native talent are to be
admired, France has ever been worthy of admi-
ration. We have struggled with this nation in all
ages of our history, because we have both struggled
for a prize which only one can enjoy—supremacy."
So we are doomed to struggle always for what
one only can enjoy—a very satisfactory reason,
no doubt. And this is the science of foreign
policy. " Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to
be wise," Our diplomate takes occasion, from
the ignorance of the English as to the character
of Ferdinand of Spain, who is ultra-liberal, to
reproach them for their ignorance of the state of
Europe. The French complained of our sol-
diers at Waterloo, that they did not know when
they were beat--for they remained when they
ought to have run away selon les r?gles. Our
diplomate is quite concerned that they will not
perceive the manifold dangers which threaten to
engulf them on all hands. It is observed of
people who are too curious in studying diseases,
that they discover too many in themselves. We
are not in such alarm for our national glory and
supremacy, as to see danger on every side. It
seems that our Indian empire is even in danger
from Egypt ; for " an Englishman recently
resident in Egypt, discovered by an accident,
that a secret agent in the employ of France
was in the habit of beim-, honoured with private
interviews with the Pacha. It was immediately
after the events of July. . ......
Let it suffice that he did ascertain that
in the event of any collision with England, a
French army was to be received in Egypt, and
that India was to be threatened either by a joint
invasion, or, if deemed more expedient, by the
Arab troops alone ; the French maintaining, in
their absence, the authority of the Pacha." We
thought that the French had had enough of
Egypt. What devils they must be ; but what
must we be who, knowing so little of Europe as
to mistake Ferdinand for a despot, can maintain
the supremacy in Europe! There are a number
of young men of quality who mystify themselves
with all these whimsies, and imagine they know
a great deal. Time and space is nothing to
them. The continent is the region for this sci-
ence, this sublime science of Foreign Policy.
The good sense, or at all events the apathy of
the people of this country, secures them against
being led away from their own more important
national concerns by t,uch absurdities. If the
Tories think they can injure Ministers by attacks
on their foreign policy, they are much mistaken.
The people are not easily alarmed—they have an
instinctive notion of the secret of their own
strength. They are not easily alarmed; and they
are sick of all this.—Morning Chronicle.
The affairs of Poland were last night brought
before the House of Commons, by Mr. Cutlar
Fergusson, in an able and eloquent speech, of
which the sentiments found a ready echo in
those of almost every Member who spoke upon
the subject. Lord Althorp, in his brief reply,
atidomnaitlitteyd
otlfiapt
otihaentreport,endssithao,litailouni
theof tilniecianna.-
choly fate of her uinfby or'tuin'ate *people, must have
sunk deep in the mind of every free people ;
and assuredly conduct more infamous, or more
insolent, was never displayed by one Govern-
ment towards another, much less by one towards
all others who were parties with it to the
treaty which it has so faithlessly broken. Mr.
Cutlar Fergusson rested his argument for
strong remonstrance, if not for eventual warlike
interference, upon the broad principle that
even if the late insurection in Poland were
pronounced to be a rebellion, Poland itself
ought not to lose its nationality on that account,
• "The archives of the Foreign Office were plundered during
the three glorious days, and the correspondence of Polignac
with Belgium has found its way to this country. Such is the
rage here for original papers, that a large sum was given by the
present proprietor for these documents, which probably might
have been obtained during the tumult fur A few tranci.";

nor the inhabitants of Poland any of the rights
secured to them by formal treaties : and he ad-
duced, in proof of the accuracy of his argument,
the fact, first, that there bad been rebellions in
Ereland which had been quelled—that the rebels
had been punished, brit that Ireland had still
remained, until the voluntary union with this
country, an independent kingdom in all respects
but that of being governed by the same Sove-
reign as that of the country against which a por-
tion of her people had rebelled ; and, secondly,
that there had also been rebellions in Scotland,
which had made the King of England shake upon
his throne, and whiCh had been quelled, hut which
had never originated in the breast either of the
Sovereign or of the Legislature, the slightest
idea of abolishing the nationality of the country
—of attempting
.to govern it by the same laws
which prevailed in the conquering country, and
much less of incorporating it as being, after the
quelling of the rebellions, a de facto part and
parcel of its dominions. England, however,
might have done all this, without any European
power being able to show good cause against her
right ; for there was no treaty existing between
her and the countries in question to which other
powers were parties, and she could not therefore
have been amenable to any charge of a breach
of faith. With Russia the case is totally dif-
ferent. The appointment of a head to the go-
vernment of Poland, and her defence against
foreign aggression, were confided to Russia by
the treaty of Vienna, to which all the powers of
Europe were parties, but nothing more. In every
other respect Poland was to remain an inde-
pendent kingdom—the liberty of her subjects to
be respected—her ancient form of government
to be perpetuated—her people to be the guar-
dians of her soil, and the administrators
of her rights ; yet,—in the face of this
solemn treaty—in the teeth of this great
compact, of which not only Austria and
Prussia were guarantees, but also England and
France, has the northern barbarian, in his sup-
posed supremacy of power, determined to crush
at once the nationality of Poland—to incorpo-
rate her with his own barbarian dominions--to
destroy the liberty of her press—to sweep away
her army as a part of the army of Russia, and
to quarter in her barracks soldiers who are
foreigners and enemies to her ! This matter
concerns the honour of England as well as that of
France, and if it were not that we have a well-
grounded hope that Lord Grey will not submit,
so tamely as the Duke of Wellington did, to the
insolence and usurpations of Russia, we should
conclude our brief notice of the debate of last
night by some strong remonstrances against the
conduct which he has hitherto apparently pur-
sued. We have strong reason, however, for be-
lieving that Lord Grey has been less inactive in
behalf of Poland than the public imagines, and
that the incorporation of Poland with Russia
will be rescinded. It is rather too much for the
Northern Bear to beard the English Lion in his
den; and he may yet learn that he has not done
so with impunity.—Morning Advertiser.
The late decision of the House of Lords
has occasioned deep and sincere regret
among those who are best able to judge of
the true interests of the country. The Con-
servative Party called almost with one voice for
the instant rejection of the Bill, on the grounds
of the total inadmissibility of its principles, and
the mischievousness of protracted agitation. The
question would then have been brought to an
issue, and the threats of Revolutionists put to a
final test. If Mr. Macaulay's announcement
that force would be employed had been realized,
the representation for the time being of the
monarchical and constitutional interest might
have made with confidence the well-known ap-
peal—

" Let him that is a true.born Gentleman,
And stands upon the honour of his birth,
If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,
From off this brier pluck a white rose with me,"
leaving it to the kno Nu loyalty of the people to
supply the proper answer. OR the one side
would then have been seen the ancient standard

of England with all its glorious associations, and
on the other the democratic flag of the Birming-
ham Union. The result need not be told. Not

a drop of blood would have been shed, nor a
single arm raised against the constituted autho-
rities. A hundred men would not have been

found who loved revolution well enough to fight
for it, or whose courage would enable them to
remain one night under arms, or to abide the
brunt of a single charge. The Morning Chro-
nicle's scheme of refusing to pay taxes would
have been still more amusing, if possible, than
a radical fight. We should have wished the
adoption of this plan above all things; it would
have given us an exact list of the radicals through-
out the kingdom, and a pretty little statute
of outlawry would have settled the matter to
perfection. With a Conservative Administra-
tion, and such a temperate revision of our
system as would satisfy moderate men, England
would have been herself again in a fortnight,
prospering as she never prospered before. But
the Lords have ordered it otherwise, and have

consequently disappointed for a time the hopes
of their friends, relieved the radicals from an

agony of apprehension, and condemned all
the interests of the country to the depression
incident to prolonged agitation and danger.
Yet we acknowledge that if the second reading
must have taken place it could scarcely have
done so under circumstances more favourabe
to the Conservative Party. It was accom-
plished by a detachment of the Opposition
moving to the right about, and protest-
ing that in so doing they only recognised
the principle of Reform, but not what
Lord Grey called the principle of the Bill ;
they also declared that they only went into
Committee to endeavour to improve the Bill,
and that they would vote against the third read-
ing if that should be found impracticable. The
oConservatives,
a majority
otth there-
fore
have voluntarily pledged themselves to a
e r st t
conservative Bill or nothing ; and we shall re-
pose to the last on the conviction that this
pledge will be ultimately made good. We think
we pointed out to the Peers a nearer road to the
salvation of the Constitution than that by which
they have thought proper to travel ; but let the

end be accomplished, and we shall be content.
The Waverers have taken upon themselves a
tremendous responsibility, but the mischief is
certainly not irremediable; we give them
credit for the excellence of their motives,
thoughwe cannot perceive the wisdom of
their
and we trust that we shall
yet see them cordially co-operating with
the friends of the Constitution, either in ma-
terially altering the objectionable clauses of
policy ;
the Bill, or in finally rejecting it altogether. Of
the final triumph of true constitutional prin-
ciples we never doubted for a single moment.
If the whole Bill were to pass to-morrow with
all
its mischievousness and ridiculousness of ab-
surdity it would only lead to democracy ; de-
mocracy to anarchy ; and anarchy, by the force