The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-29 00:00:00

PRICE 4D• STAMPED, 6D.

ENGLAND'S POLICY.

" An Englishman," in a letter to a contemporary,
says :—England's policy—What is England's best
policy ? This is the question that should be seri-
ously taken into every reflective man's consideration.
In doing so, it should be done in no local, narrow
spirit, but with a due sense of what England is in
the world—with the recollection vivid that not only
are we European, but Asiatic, African, American,
and Australian. Our political position is eminently
one of the first in every quarter of the globe ; we
represent a sixth part of the whole human family,
while Russia represents a ninth, and Austria and
France each of them but the twenty-sixth part.
Of the 175,000,000 people who form our portion
there are not 30,000,000 in Europe ; whereas of
Russia's 133,000,000, almost half are here, and the
rest adjoining. Of France's 38,000,000 there are
35,000,000, and Austria, with the exception of a few
thousaneo, has all her tribe in Europe. These coun-
tries may, therefore, be considered as exclusively
European ' . but we English are, as it were, universal
—we hold a world-wide nationality, and in consi-
dering our policy this should be particularly
remembered.

It seems to me that if we raise our survey above
the local, immediate irritabilities at hand, we can
only conclude that the wisest course to pursue is
that of total abstinence from the broil commencing
in our European quarter. We are apt to carry that
" balance of power" principle too far; it is a theory
much too arbitrary for the welfare of the various
peoples with their manifold ways—who must ever
protest against certain huge Governments being,
thrust on them, simply because :geological develop-
ment has caused this river to flow here, that
mountain to rise there. Let England guard her
own. The sea runs between her and the Continent.
If the barriers of nature are to be interpreted as
indications of separation, then let us remember
where rolls the sea the wildest. Let the despots of
Europe fight till the issue be that of the Kilkenny
cats. England, strong in her wealth and might,
will be respected and conciliated by each of the
combatants, in the meantime fulfilling her duty im-
partially towards every portion of her vast empire.
The objection to this policy is that some conqueror,
more successful than another, might extend his sove-
reignty on the continent till it became a menace to
England. This can never be so. The four dis-
tinct nationalities of Russia, France, Germany,
and Italy are too vividly felt ever to permit a
Roman rule to exist. The river and the mountain
may be insufficient to stay, but nothing will over-
power the fierce instinct of national identity.
There are deep streaks of it crossing Central
Europe that must always restrain the encroach-
ment of either a Russian or French invading tide.
England need not alarm herself that the stock of
German princes is on the point of annihilation, nor
should she dream of interposition until her real in-
terests are threatened. Foresight, statesmanship,
and a real knowledge of our country's station in
the world, all emphatically demand our withhold-
ing from the fray, or from assenting to the doctrine
that any European war must necessarily involve
us. We are too fond of asserting our police duties.
We may congratulate ourselves on the existence of
a great German Power without ruining ourselves
to support it. An echo comes from every frag-
ment of our colossal dominion crying for—strict
neutrality.