The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-18 00:00:00

lu observing what is now passing in Poland ad-
miration is mingled with anxiety. We cannot wish
that the high-spirited people who are now facing
the anger of the Russian Emperor and his Generals
at Warsaw should act otherwise than they do, or
abate one jot of their just claims. The rights of
Poland to a separate and free Government are
guaranteed by the Treaties of Vienna, which recog-
nised Alexander I. as King. The usurpations of
the late Czar were based only en the power of the
sword, and with that power they must fall. But
has the time come ? Are the Polish people able to
extort at once the restoration of all that Nicholas
deprived them of ? Can the conflict of 1831 be
renewed with a fair chance of success ? These are
the questions which must occur to every one who
reads the lamentable news which has been received
during the last few days. Such have been the folly
and the tyranny of the authorities at Warsaw that
no nation in Europe would refuse its sympathy to
a Polish insurrection, and it would probably be
difficult to prevent the Western nations from inter-
fering in behalf of the insurgents.
There is evidently a difference between the
character of popular movements now and what it
was some years since. The opportunities, if not the
impulses, of the people are changed. Of old the
expression of political discontent always took the
form of au attack by a mob of students or work-
men on some public building; the disturbance soon
swelled into a general street fight; barricades were
thrown up, the military engaOthand to hand with
the inhabitants, and in d,s.hours ,either a riot was
suppressed or a revolutieCtaceafap- lished. But at
the present time there is si calmer and more devoted
patriotism. The strength of the great despotic
Governments has increased immensely ; their sus-
picion of town populations has led them to concen-
trate in every capital a large body of troops, and
to keep up between these and the people a sort of
antipathy ; they have reduced street fighting to a
science, planted barracks in the most commanding
positions, divided the cities by broad streets easily
cleared by cavalry, and in short, made it almost
impossible for a garrison to be at any time dialoged
by a crowd. We cannot wonder then, that even
the people which, perhaps, more easily than any
other in Europe is turned into soldiers, has not
attempted to make head against the Russian garri-
son of Warsaw. Thirty years ago as short a time
as has elapsed since the first collision in February
last was sufficient for the overthrow of Russian rule
throughout the kingdom. The advance of science
has not been favourable to a repetition of this won-
derful achievement. The telegraph, and even to
some extent the railway, serve to increase the
power of the Government in Russia, and, in
the present case, in a few hours after the
first disturbance took place at Warsaw troops
were moving on Poland from distant parts of the
empire. The capital is also well provided with
troops, while the fabrication and sale of arms are
under strict control. The Government is too
watchful to be surprised and too strong to be over-
powered. It may be, too, that the Polish people
have been willing to try every kind of remonstrance
before shedding b.ood. They may wish to stand
well with Europe to put it beyond the power of
their enemies to say that they were savage, obsti-
nate, or treacherous; to give the nations of the
West, which are free or conquering freedom, an in-
terest in their fate. But, at all events, they have
shown in the present case the courage rather of the
martyr than of the rebel. This at least they have
gained—that there can be no difference of opinion
as to the conduct of the Russian Government, or
rather of the Polish Viceroyalty, during the last few
days. Alexander bad shown that he knew the better
path; he had begun to walk in it, and the good-
will of his subjects and of foreigners was about
to recompense him. But, either from evil ad-
vice, or from one of those revulsions of temper
which are common among men raised too high
above their fellows, he has permitted an abuse of
his power to be made by the military authorities
at Warsaw. To the end of his reign the Emperor
will have cause to regret the excesses of his Generals
on the Bth inst. Up to that time there was no
reason to fear for the maintenance of order. The
people, though not loyal, as the word is understood
with us, had no notion of contesting the sovereign
rights of the Emperor, or even- of limiting his autho-
rity as King of Poland. We are so accustomed to
think of civil liberty as the first of blessings that we
have some difficulty in understanding how a nation
can put anything before it ; but it is certain that as
long as the weight of foreign power is felt the
deliverance from this is the first desire, and the
mere freedom of the individual with regard to the
Government is a secondary object. The Poles desired
institutions, not as against their King, but as
against the vast and barbarous populations which
call him Emperor. Had Alexander understood
this well, he might in a few months have increased
his power in Europe by becoming the Sovereign
of the Poles as a nation, and the object of attach-
ment to all those of the race who are sundered from
the main body. But other counsels prevailed. The
dissolution of the Agricultural Society was an act
of folly which nothing can excuse, This association,
which comprises most of the foremost men in Po-
land, had for years done great service to the country
by promoting material improvement of many kinds.
A land entirely dependent on the produce of the
soil, and shut out by its geograhical position from
eminence in commerce, must be much indebted to
any body of men who will introduce the science
and dexterity of more advanced nations. That the
Agricultural Society was to some extent a political
body is not to be denied. Where a nation is de-
prived of regular political organs it will naturally
give a political form to any which it possesses.
Count Andrew Zamoyski,
the President of the So-
ciety, has long been a leader of the national party,
and the Government in dissolving the society de-
clared its enmity to all national organisation.
This piece of folly produced the deplorable con-
flict of the Bth. The narrative which we published
yesterday is truly heartrending. Excited, as mul-
titudes sometimes are by great events, the people of
Warsaw, unarmed and defenceless, devoted them-
selves to death as if with a belief that the country
to be free must be watered with their blood. There
was a general slaughter ; the troops put the crowd
between two fires, and our correspondent says that
the Government estimate of 10 killed and 108
wounded is far below the truth.
The state of Poland is now very serious. Con-
trary to the example of 1831, it is the country,
districts which are most disturbed. The tele-
graph gives us the important news that the
Russian authorities have left Lublin, a town of
great strength towards the south, and that the
Bishop with the Municipality is administering
affairs. General Chruleff is marching to restore
" order." All through the country there have
been demonstrations of attachment to Count

Zamoyski ; and even M. Lewinski, a gentleman
who had been nominated Minister of the Interior,
had made his acceptance dependent on the
concessions of the Government. A few days
will enable us to judge whether peace is to
be restored or another civil conflict to stain the
page of history. To us it seems strange that
the heir of Peter the Great should fail to see that
his interest lies in attaching Poland to his person
and family. The Sovereign of a free Poland would
be to Austria and Prussia what Victor Emmanuel is
to the former Power. Posen and Galicia would be
the Lombardy or Venice of Eastern Europe. On
the other hand the Polish leaders may, if the Go-
vernment will really concede representative insti-
tutions, accept them without loss of honour. All
experience shows how rapidly the power of popular
assemblies increases when they are once established
and under the guidance of prudent politicians. In
five years a Polish Chamber would have extorted
from the Emperor all that the patriots would now
purchase at the cost of a conflict with the gigantic
strength of Russia. That both parties may learn
moderation we firmly hope ; but the Government
as the offender, is bound to set the example by
making concessions to the nation and ample repa-
rations to-the families of the victims.—Times.

The Charentais tells the following tale, 'which
has already had many counterparts in the French press :
"As a wealthy gentleman of Jouzac, in the Charente, was
with his wife a few days back coming from Spain in a post-
chaise,
he, at a steep ascent in the Pyrenees, got out to
walk, letting the vehicle go on. After awhile a man sud-
denly issued from a wood, and, presenting a revolver,
threatened death, if the traveller did not allow himself to
to be robbed quietly. Seeing that resistance was useless,
the gentleman permitted the man to take his purse, in
which were about 2,000 f., his watch, breast Tin, and a
diamond ring. The thief then turned to leave, but, step-
ping back, he made the gentleman give up his great coat,
and threw to him contemptuously, in exchange, his own
ragged jacket. The traveller took the latter, and, fearing
to catch cold, put it on. On joining his wife in the post-
chaise, after telling her what had occurred, he examined
the rockets of his strange garment, and to his astonishment
found not only his purse, ring, watch, and pin, but a gold
snuff box and another purse I The thief, in his anxiety to
obtain the gentleman's coat, had forgotten the property
clopoitecl in the pecketa his en jacket,"