New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-08-17


subject: "If there was time when the Finn,
had reason to be dissatisfied this time has passed
long ago. The present Emperor, the liberatol
Of the peasants, has opened to his empire Tho
road to equal liberty, and, as Grand-Dake o
Finland, he has preserved our laws intact. AL
the acts Of our Sovereign prove his affection fol
our country, and inspire Us with confidence IL
his Intentions The paper charges The Swedish
Government with having displayed great intoi-
orancc as to the use of the Finnish langf4,
and with having endeayEed TO suppress 1t An
ualy. Russia, on the her hand, IS sait'td
vlcbnowledged and rtsored the right of The
Finnish language. II is taught" says the pa
per referred to, at the University; it IL obliga-
tory in all the primary schools and il our higher
schools. Translators have been appointed, az
the expense Of the Government, for all the adj
minstratiye boards Of the G.aad-Duchy, and
measures have been taken that o'r language re-
place ultimately, in the courts and official boards
the Swedish language, which hitherto has en-
joycd an exclusive privilege"
or the Russian accounts of tie political prodIlec-
tons of the Firms deserve the most credit. At
all events, il appears to be certain that only n
liberal policy will be able to reconcile the tlnns
to Russian rule. The language can be made n
powerful weapon in the hands Of Russia against
Sweden; for more than nine-tenths OF the pepu-
la.on speak Finnish, though the Swedish Ian
guage has been hitherto that Of the Government
and of literature. There is, therefore, in the
province Of language an antagonism between
the Finnish and the Swedish, nd II Is natural
that any aid given 20 the former by Russia should
weaken the hold that Sweden may yet have on
part of the population. A. The principle Of
distinct ua,ionalitic5 is becoming Of greater and
greater importance in Europe, The Firms will
the more easily grayitate toward Union with
Russia as all the kindred branches Of the same
nationality are living under the scepter of Rus
sia. A union with Sweden must appear 10 most
of the Firms "a identical with a certain absorp'
ton of their language and nationality by the
scandinavian; while a continuance OF a Grand
Duchy Of Finland under the scgpter Of Russia,
though with national institutions encourages
the expectation Of a more prosperous condition
fog their nationality than it has yet attained.
On the other hand the Firms have the same
religion a. the swedes, and this, for the present
il undoubtedly strong tie Of Onon Russia
and Sweden have both been noted for the into-
erance Of their ecclesiastical legislation; but the
Firms have of course only suffered from the
Russian laws. The Russian Government will
see the necessity OF reform. which the Firms
are demanding in common with the rest Of Eu-
rope. II il gratilies the liberal aspirations OF
the Firms, Il il almost sure to gain their conf
dence and attachment. Here is one motive.
among many that will push Russia forward on
the road of Liberalism, and, whatever the IS
sue Of the Polish war may be, It's influence on
the development Of Russia cannot but be iayor-
able. II will BE- for Russia what the Revolu-
ton of l-i5 was for Austria.