or to chide the enthusiasm excited by them in this country; but the difference between their case and that of the Poles is assuredly all in favour of the latter.

If the cause of the apathy in question cannot be found in any quality belonging to the subject, perhaps we must seek it in something relating to ourselves. We are willing to throw it upon the ignorance generally prevailing of every thing regarding Poland; and to contribute, as far as in us lies, toward removing this, is the chief purpose of the present article. Some other ingredients are, however, mixed up along with ignorance, in composing the soporific mixture which has so strangely lulled the feelings of Englishmen. It is to be feared, that we too often refuse our attention to any tale of public distress, in producing which the French have had little or no share; and are averse to hearing the truth spoken, when it arraigns the conduct, not of our enemies but our allies. One part of this feeling we need not be ashamed of -tenderness towards Allies, to whom all Europe owes so great a debt of gratitude. But it is quite absurd, that any such feelings should shut us out from a discussion essential to the interests of every nation. It is a discussion which presses forward upon us from all quarters; and, without an abandonment of all claim to consistency, and to principle, the Allies themselves cannot repudiate it. They are about to negociate a peace.-What shall be the basis?-Must France keep all that she possesses? No one pretends to believe it. Shall Austria regain what she has lost? Every one will answer, as far as may be.-Is this only because she has fought so efficiently against France ?-Then must Switzerland be excluded from the benefits of the treaty, and Bonaparte continue Mediator of the Cantons;-then, too, must the whole German States, except those of the Allies, be swallowed up in the fund of equivalents and indemnities. Nay, upon this principle, Holland could not have been restored to independence, had she made no movement in her own behalf, let what would have happened on the Upper Rhine; and no successes of the allied arms could have given independence to Spain, unless the fortune of war had made the Peninsula the scene of the victory. But the question is still more urgently forced upon us, by the state of the Duchy of Warsaw.-How is it to be disposed of? It consists of almost all the Prussian, and half the Austrian shares of Poland—and is now in the anomalous state of a vast province, in which the Code Napoleon is the law-Prussians and Poles the civil administrators-and Russians the absolute rulers, and military occupants. Is this country to be restored to its former proprietors, or retained by Russia, or subjected to some new scheme of partition? Restored to its former owners, will probably be the answer-because restoration is the grand principle of the good cause; every thing is carried on with the view of reinstating things in their ancient condition; the Bourbons are to be replaced, at least in Spain; the Orange family in Holland; the Austrians in Italy; and Savoy is to be separated from France. -Therefore, it will be said, the Duchy must of course revert, partly to Russia, and partly to Austria. Now, all this at first sight looks mighty plausible, and even has some semblance of consistency; but it is only a thin varnish, which a breath will melt: for we should like to hear any one answer this single question-By what right Prussia and Austria are the owners of Poland, and must have their shares of it restored as a matter of course, when those two powers are busily engaged in restoring Holland to independence and its former sovereigns? But they have had longer possession of Poland. Of a small part of it, certainly-but not of, the bulk; for it does so happen

FOREIGN POLITICS.

that their last partition was effected the very month that Holland was overrun by French troops, seconded by a powerful faction in the country.

Here, then, we find ourselves in the very midst of the question, at the outset of any negociation which can be undertaken for a settlement of Euwhich a disupon rope; and we might almost stop here, and be satisfied with the conclusion to which have already come, that there is but one ground tinction can be raised in favour of Holland or Spain, and against Poland;the ground, not of principle, but interest-not of right, but might ;-the ground that the Allies have in their hands the power of keeping Poland in subjection, and are resolved to preach up restoration at other people's expense, but to practise none of their doctrine themselves.

If such is the language of the day; if all the professions of the last twelve months are dissipated by the successes to which they contributed so largely, and Europe is once more to be plunged in a chaos of intrigue, profligacy, and violence, we have nothing more to offer; we at least understand what we are about ;-and it is our own fault if we are disappointed, let what will happen either now or hereafter. But let the proper words be used for all Let our ears be spared this, so that we may not be made grateful for nothing, and be at once deceived in our hopes, and cheated out of our thanks. the insulting titles-of restorer, liberator, avenger, lavished upon, or even claimed by those, who, having got the upper hand by means of the people of Europe, use their power in perpetuating slavery and oppression; and, having driven out the French armies, only think of dividing the spoils among themselves, without ever wasting a thought upon the rightful owners, to whose assistance they had affected to come.-But, most of all, let us be spared hearing the ridiculous name of pacificator, given to those who are destroying every chance of lasting tranquillity; and employing a moment of unexampled success, never likely to recur, in laying the foundation of new wars;-when they might, by recurring to sound principles, by only keeping the faith which they had vowed, re-establish the system of European independence upon an immovable basis, and give to the world a real and lasting

peace.

We cannot, however, for one moment allow such thoughts to cross our minds. After the delightful expectations which have been raised so high by the victories and the dignified moderation of the Allies, it would be a grievous disappointment indeed to find them resorting to such principles for a proof of their consistency. It may well be permitted us to speculate upon their persevering in the right course which they have so steadily pursued ; and, in this belief, we conceive, that the line of policy which shall appear to be most conducive to the general interests and permanent tranquillity of the Continent, will be followed in their arrangements for the distribution of territory. The object of the "Appeal" is, to prove that the restoration of Polish independence, in some shape or other, is a most material part of this policy; and we cannot better fulfil the task we have now undertaken, of calling the attention of our readers to this important subject, than by laying before them an outline of the argument, and arranging, under the different heads of it, such further information, respecting Polish affairs, as we are possessed of.

The Appeal" opens with removing some preliminary objections which might startle the bulk of readers, and disincline them to any discussion of Poland is, among the Allies, rather a the subject at the present moment. delicate topic; it resembles some of those personal questions, touching the

merits of individuals, the gains of near and dear relations, or the delinquencies of persons highly connected, which are frequently brought forward in the discussions of our domestic politics, and generally create considerable uneasiness among all parties. Upon the subject of Poland there seems pretty much the same shyness among the old established powers of Europe, that we observe among ourselves when any matter is broached on which each party in its turn has had something to regret. No one loves to handle it; the person who mentions it is deemed officious, and instrusive, and indelicate; by common consent the less that is said, and the sooner the subject is dropped, the better. Nay, you shall see the company for a while quite ignorant of what is meant, when the topic is started, staring about, and looking as innocent as possible; and only by a kind of force awakened and made to listen. Perhaps the reader may have chanced to be in a company of persons of character and station, among whom one is awkwardly connected with some half-forgotten judicial proceeding; the topic of halters is here proverbially so irksome, that every body is apt to fall into it from our anxiety to avoid it; and when by accident the fatal word is out, the meeting must either disperse (which we recommend in such case) or remain in the fear of encountering one another's looks. But the case of the partitioning powers is by many supposed to resemble that of some companies in America, or other settlements where the delicate subject is much, and almost equally, to be eschewed by every person present. Now, we are fully aware of the delicacy of the topic; and if, by holding our peace, we could keep it at rest, perhaps the best way would be to do a great violence to all natural feeling, and bury it for ever in profound silence. We shall even grant that, if it were possible, it would be advisable to let all principles of justice and humanity sleep, and forget Poland, for fear of hurting the feelings of the Allies upon a point presumed to be so tender. But unhappily this is wholly impossible; depending upon persons and things altogether beyond our control, -upon no less a personage indeed, and one of no greater delicacy than the Emperor Napoleon,-who, whether in peace or war, whether negociating or intriguing, never fails to bring up the ugly subject, as in truth he must be utterly ignorant of his greatest advantage if he for a moment lost sight of it. The Allies may be as silent as the grave upon it, and may affect not to understand the broad hints of the Moniteur, and the French proclamations; but the bystanders, and their own subjects, must judge; and one part of their subjects, the Poles, devour with insatiable avidity every allusion of the sort, and are fully more ready to act than to reason upon it. Is it not far better to remove the weakness to which their cause is subject, than to pretend that they have forgotten it? Would they not do a wiser as well as a better thing, if, instead of avoiding the discussion altogether, till their enemy forced it upon them either in the shape of set-off in a treaty, or rebellion in a campaign, they manfully got rid of the flaw in their title to regenerate Europe and resist French usurpation, and secured themselves a more tranquil dominion, with an unimpeachable character?

But is there no reason to think that this notion of delicacy is overstated? -Why should the Allies dread the subject?-None of them had any share whatever in the first partition each of them is removed from that crime by two descents. In the last, which undoubtedly was by far the most important, except that it was not the beginning of the fatal system, neither the Emperor of Russia nor the King of Prussia had any part; and the Emperor of Austria may fairly be supposed to have been merely passive; for the treaty was half

finished before his accession, and he was engaged in a most critical war with France at the moment. Why then should we hesitate to discuss the subject from delicacy towards them, any more than we suffer a similar delicacy towards our own Government to hamper us in reprobating the American war, or the enormities committed by our rulers in the East and West Indies? The writers and statesmen on the Continent canvass very freely our conduct in those particulars; and in reality all the praise which they bestow upon one of the finest passages in our history-the victory gained for humanity in 1807-is an admission that seven years ago our present rulers and statesmen encouraged the traffic in human flesh-with this additional circumstance, that the very heads of the Royal Family were uniformly strenuous in resisting its abolition. In fact, the present appeal is made, not against any living individuals, but against a system begun by princes long since dead, and entailing lamentable consequences, as well on their descendants whom it was designed to benefit, as on those whose interest were from the beginning meant to be sacrificed. But there is certainly a magnanimity in the whole conduct of the Allied Sovereigns, which would render it a safe duty to speak the truth to them, even if the errors to be pointed out existed in their own individual conduct, and were not the practical effects of the policy handed down to them from their illustrious progenitors.

But, it may be said, this question is no longer open to negociation; it is one of domestic, and not of foreign policy; we have no right to interpose our good offices between the allied Princes and their subjects. The force of this objection had better be tried by the excellent and unerring rule of making the case our own;—and we have no occasion to do so in fancy; we need only to tax our memory for an instance wherein the very thing occurred to ourselves, our enemy having exactly made the objection here presumed to be raised by the allies. When we required the evacuation of Spain, then wholly overrun by his troops, as a sine quá non in our negociation for peace, he said Spain was no business of ours, and added, that he might as well require the emancipation of the Irish Catholic. Now, this must be deemed to have been a perfectly satisfactory answer by every one who can for a moment listen to the present objection against our interfering in behalf of Poland. If the Allies have a right to say, the Poles are ours, and we may as well ask you emancipate the Irish Catholics; Bonaparte had the same right to say, Spain is mine, as Ireland is yours. Yet we doubt if any one individual in the whole world was duped by his absurd argument. But then indeed it came from France, and was used against Spain-while the topic in question, though precisely the same, is supposed to come from Russia, and to be used against Poland :-this is the diversity. The difference, in the length of possession, we are immediately to consider.

There remains to be noticed the repugnance felt towards the Poles, because they have been found ranged on the side of the enemy, that is, of our enemy the French; for, it is quite plain that none of our allies can say a word upon a charge equally applicable to them all. Austria joined Bonaparte in his Russian invasion, and only left him during the armistice last summer. Prussia was wholly devoted to him until his disastrous retreat enabled her to escape. And Russia, having joined him at Tilsit, by a treaty too which gave her two new slices of Poland, one at the expense of Austria, the other at the cost of her Prussian ally, was found backing him two years after in the invasion of Austria. It would be reckoning too much on the powers of princely inconsistency, or the proverbially short memories known at court,

to pretend, in the presence of those great potentates, that the mere fact of having taken part with France is a sufficient answer to every thing that may be urged for Poland. Yet, it must be admitted, that some pretty bold attempts at such an excess of flattery have lately been made. We have been told of the three allied monarchs turning away their heads when the King of Saxony saluted them at Leipsic; and have heard much of the dignified contempt with which one of their majesties received a message from that unhappy prince. Did the injudicious parasites who invented such fables forget, or could they fancy that Alexander had forgotten, the unfortunate course of events which so lately made even the sovereign of all the Russias league with the enemy of Europe and gain by the union an extension of territory at the expense of his own allies? How dared they insult his Imperial Majesty by insinuating that he would maltreat the petty elector for yielding to overwhelming force, a compliance which the apprehension only of a doubtful struggle had extorted from his own immense and almost unbroken power? Such topics, then, as the Polish alliance with France, cannot be used on the Continent. Have they any more weight with ourselves? Let us, says the appeal, make the case our own, and suppose ourselves in the situation of the Poles Should we not have acted precisely as they have done?

Suppose that the incurable folly of the government had alienated a considerable portion of its subjects, and thrown them for a moment of desperation upon the still more insane expedient of calling in foreign assistance; that, availing himself of this pretext, our ancient enemy had poured his forces into a part of the empire; and, establishing his power there, had afterwards extended his dominion over England itself. Let us fancy to ourselves this fair island, which we love instinctively because it is our country, and rationally for the blessings we enjoy in it, seized by the lawless hands of Frenchmen and Italians, its venerable establishments despitefully overthrown, its countless riches pillaged, its citizens massacred or dragged away into foreign slavery, or condemned to the more unbearable suffering of perpetual indignities near the homes of which they had been dispos sessed. A few years of such misery would surely not efface from our memories the picture of what England once had been. It may well be questioned, whether any one individual would live long enough to survive the recollection that he formerly had a country to claim his gratitude and affection. It may be doubted, whether the excess of present misfortune would not make the remembrance of the lost enjoyment more sweet, and concentrate every thought, feeling, desire, passion of the soul, in the single determination to regain it. A French general is rioting in every town, which is not beneath the notice of so considerable an oppressor. Commissions are assembled in each county, to carry on the work of confiscation. The services of the most abandoned of both sexes in Paris are recompensed by grants of land wrested from such of our fellow-citizens as have most stoutly resisted the conqueror. The estates of our great proprietors are become the currency in which every baseness and treachery of our own countrymen is paid. The inhabitants are insulted, tortured, driven away in thousands to serve abroad, or to expiate, by banishment from their country, the generous virtue which made them risk every earthly possession in its defence. Life has become indifferent, or burthensome, upon such terms; the very semblance of English independence is gone; no man cares for himself; all other ideas are absorbed in the wish, not of blind revenge, but of restoring the lost country of our forefathers-when suddenly an occasion presents itself of driving the French away, and once more enjoying independence. Russia, which has always been our ally, which has helped us in our unsuccessful struggle, which has uniformly been hostile to our oppressors, is in open war with France, and has landed an immense army upon our coasts. Now this is the question-shall we acknowledge the French, because they are our rulers'de facto ; shall we remain quietly subject to them; shall we take their part in the contest for our own liberation about to be fought on our own ground; shall we join them against the Russians, who come professedly to destroy their dominion, and to set us free? The Englishman who blames the Poles for being deceived by France into a share in the late wars against Russia, must be prepared to maintain that he would himself, in the case now put, join his French tyrant against the Russians. But the case becomes infinitely stronger for Poland, when we reflect that she was in fact overrun by an immense force, before the option was even given her whether she would arm for her tyrants in possession, or for her conquerors in expectancy, pretending to be her avengers. If any one can affect a doubt about the judgment to be pronounced on such conduct, or pharisaically insinuate that England would have carried herself differently, the following reflections are certainly not addressed to kiss. I appeal to him who is not afraid to avow, that had he been a Pole he would have grasped at any chance, even the forlorn hope of French protection, to save his sinking country. Poland has indeed been undeceived; but it is neither befitting the generosity, nor the justice, nor the wisdom of her sovereigns, to visit her with such a continuance of calamity as must, even after the experience of French perfidy, expose her to be again misled in her hopes of redress. How much more does it become England, who can have no interest except the future independence and happiness of her neighbours, and who can feel no resentments for the past, to exert her powerful intercession in