The Sun.
London, England, 1832-11-08 00:00:00

applauded by Austria, encouraged by Russia, and
issisted by Prussia, no nation on the habitable
!lobe may defy the might of Great Britain with
.mptinity. If Ministers have been dragged
dung by events, as our contemporary thinks,
nto a war, the events are of their own creating.
Such events have grown out of the protocol
kbours, which, instead of solving the Belgic
iroblem, have entangled us in the meshes of a net
of difficulties woven by our own intermeddling
,)olicy. We are now commencing what we sup-
pose we must call by the novel title of the war
of non-intervention, and which is likely to be a
perpetual memorial of the mischievous incapacity
-hat presides over our Foreign-office. When
he Courier asks, " Was it within the scope of
Foresight, or within the calculation of probabili-
ies, that Holland would defy the power of
Great Britain—and of Great Britain united
with France ?" it impliedly admits that, if our
Government could have foreseen the resolute de-
fiance which Holland throws in the face of our
" demonstrations," they would not have taken
such measures as drag them on to war. What
to excuse it is for the errors and bad policy of
the Government of a great nation to say that
they would not have gone such lengths in a
dangerous course if they had not been destitute
of foresight ! It surely did not require the gift
of prophecy to anticipate the difficulties into
which the departure of our Ministers from their
Professed creed of non-interference in the affairs
of Belgium and Holland has plunged the country.
We have never pretended to powers of vaticina-
tion, and yet we anticipated and proclaimed
from the earlier sittings of the London
Conference the dangers to which the inter-
ference of our Government exposed this country.
We over and over again advised and en-
treated Ministers to withdraw from that fatal
connection into which, by some malign influence,
,hey suffered themselves to be betrayed. Why
Earl Grey ever entrusted the helm of our fo-
reign affairs to such a pilot as Lord Pa!merstoo,
we cannot conceive. Why he was wholly unfit
for such an important trust all England can now
understand. When we are told that " Holland
must be made to learn that though applauded
1)y A ustria, encouraged by Russia, and assisted
Prussia, no nation G n the habitable globe
may defy the might of Great Britain with im-
punity,' we ask how long ago is it since the
Dower of England was defied by the Emperor
of Russia, who, though he pocketed our gold,
tore the treaty of Vienna to pieces, trampled
on the nationality of Poland, which we were
hound by that treaty to uphold, and forbid Lord
Durham to trouble him on the subject ?
Now Russia is a great Power, and Holland is a
-mall one. Russia gave us cause of quarrel—
Holland gave us none ; yet the " mag-
nanimity " of England is displayed in attacking
Holland with fire and sword, and submitting
to the insults of Russia! Nay, our Foreign Mi-
nister dared not interfere to prevent the system-
atic violation of the principle of neutrality prac-
tised by Prussia during the struggle of the
Poles, and which mainly assisted the subjuga-
tion of that brave people; and yet there are those
who can talk of " no nation on the habitable
globe daring to defy the might of Great Britain
with impunity !" Don Miguel knows better
!Ilan that, whose brigand troops have wantonly
fired more than once on the British flag, and
shed British blood under its protection, and
have done so with impunity. But Holland, in-
stead of being an assailant of ours, only did us
the mischief of purchasing our iron, cotton and
woollen goods, coal, &c., and we prepare to
blockade her coasts, to cut off one of the best
outlets for the productions of our struggling ma-
nufacturers ; and all this, because we will not
allow four millions of Belgians to settle their
own dispute, with two millions of Dutchmen.—
Morning Herald.
The Norwich East Anglian of Tuesday las
has the following observations

" We are shocked to see the spirit of incendiarism
wain stalking over the land. In the catalogue of human
ortmes there are scarcely any which can equal it in the
in dignity and extent of its mischief. Those who can

erpetrate this enormous crime must he utterly inacces-
- ble to all appeals of reason. Strict vigilance to detect,
and extreme punishment speedily to follow detection, are
the two things we must now rely upon. The price of
corn is exceedingly low, and the stark-yards are laden with
corn, the threshing of which must give employment to a
treat many more hands than usual. At present there is
no lack of work in the country; we are now in the midst
of wheat setting, and the autumn operations en the farm
keep every man employed. What is it that revives this
,ievdish spirit among us? But it is revived, as a reference
to our provincial intelligence unhappily proves; and we
know that, in consequence of a num. er of anonymous
letters, threatening incendiarism having lately been sent tc
several farmers in the neighbourhood of Holt ; the hour of
holding the corn-market there is changed from four in the
afternoon to one o'clock, in order that the farmers may be
enabled to get home before dark."

We have elsewhere given some of the in-
stances alluded to in the above extract. It is
easier to ask than to answer the question,
" What is it that revives this devilish spirit
among us ?" The Conservatives would at once
answer, this is one of the blessed fruits of Re-
form, were it not known that incendiarism in its
most frightful shape broke out in the Ministry
of the Duke of Wellington, and that Sir Robert
Peel was so completely overcome by it, that he
stated in Parliament the people must protect
themselves, as Government could not protect
them. At that time, to use the words of a

pamphlet just published, under the title of
Whig Government; or, Two Years' Retrospect,
" Nightly fires blazed around our villages,
while the produce of the year, and the bread' of
the nation, were at the mercy of undetected in-
cendiaries. The farmer was rendered desperate,
his landlord stood aghast, and the Magistrate
was powerless ; armed bands of soldiers alone
kept the peace, and the links of social life seemed
fast separating." Norfolk is one of those

counties in which the relations between the high
and the low seem the least satisfactory. It
abounds in Farsons, for it contains nearly as
many clergymen as belong to the whole Church

of Scotland ; it abounds in Magistrates ; so that,
it' parsons and Magistrates could keep a district
quiet, it ought to be above measure orderly.
Arson, however, is an old crime in Norfolk, and,

we believe, in most of the agricultural counties.
In the observations of the Rev. Mr. Brercton,

Rector of Little Massiogham, in Norfolk, a gen-
tleman who did so much to expose the demoral-
izing tendency of the rural system of England, he
says, " At the present time, there is a heavy levy
upon the hundred to reimburse the lo,s which

our overseer has sustained by the burning of
his stacks. There was not long ago a similar
case of arson in a neighbouring hundred." Mr.
Brereton, when he first came to reside in a purely
agricultural district, was struck with the discon-
tent which he everywhere saw among the agri-
cultural labourers, and which he had not wit-
nessed among the labouring population in towns;
and he was ►ed to inquire into the causes of the
difference. Mr. Brereton was not long in dis-
covering that the Magistracy were the causes of
the mischief ; and it will be found, we believe,