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stopped , and safety for our troops in winter quarters is now the roost they seek . What name but traitor shall be his who leaves those troops to perish ? They may have thought Sebastopol would fall by a coup de main , and that Russia would be terrified into & peaoe , wifchou * appealing to the people in the cause of freedom which our rulers fear . Bat now all that is past ; we are at bay . Who but a traitor hesitates to strike at Russia ' s heart . I believe bat little time will now elapse before the people see no third alternative between the recognition of Poland or impeachment of the Ministry ; . I warn them of that time . I have said , and in all Sincerity , I do not believe in treachery—but I warn them of that terrible moment when England shall see cause to fear that- her treasures are squandered , and worse , far worse , her best blood wasted—I warn them against that dread moment , "when fathers , mothers , wives , and children shall be taught that tieir noble dead are not , as they fondly
deemed , martyrs in tbeir country ' s cause , sacrifices to the freedom of the world , bat victims sacrificed by a treacherous Government upon the shrine of a coward and vicious diplomacy . If that time should come—I trust to God my hopes , that it never can , are warranted—I would not give much for the heads of tha suspect ; at any rate , they would be swept from the arena of English politics as by a whirlwind blast ot scorn , and lose their page in history , or only dwell in that blackest page where the traitor ' s name is found . No , no , this cannot be ; but may they leam from this meeting , and from others such—for these commemorations are being held this day not here alone , but at Newcastle , Birmingham , Leicester Nottingham , Sheffield , and elsewhere—let our Government learn from them that they cannot Strike too high a key * note for the patriotism and enthusiasm of their couptrymen—^ that they mayaina , aye , at the very summit of national honour and national right , and to a man we will follow them .
Professor F . W . N « wman seconded the motion , and laid down the principle , amid much cheering , that England ought to regard nations as their best friend ^ and not princes . He further stated that England might have America on her side if our Government ¦ would not proscribe her foxrn of government in Europe . If we did not , there was a chance of the Emperor of Russia getting ships of war from , the American ports , which if we resisted , we might get landed in a war with America . Mr . Ernest Jones then attempted to be heard , -which
gave occasion to a fresh outburst of disorder . The great majority of th e meeting were against his being heard , but their own clamour against him defeated their object , as it was impossible to proceed with anybusiness in the noise , while Mr . Jones availed himself of the confusion to gesticulate violently on the platform . At last the Chairman succeeded in taking a vote whether Mi . Jones should be heard or mot , when it was decided against him by an immense majority / Mr . Jones bowed to the Bense of the meeting , and withdrew .
M-. Kos 8 "uth then rose and was received with loud cheers , which lasted for some minutes . "When the applause had subsided , he said :
T 1 UBUTE TO FBIE 3 fDS . Sir , trained as I arx to grief , still it is with sentiments of deep emotion that I rise . It is the cause of Poland that assembled us . How could I rise on such an occasion without feeling deeply affected by the recollection that Lord Dudley Stuart is no more ? By his untimely death you , sir , have lost a friend , a noble companion in your efforts for liberal progress ; I have lost a friend to whom I owe personal gra- > - titudo £ atid exiles in misfortune have not many friends ); humanity lias lost a friend , as few are living like him ; Poland has lost a friend , as there are none more devoted and . sincere . Private misfortunes , sir , I can bear , atid proudly raise my shoulders with the load of sorrows manifold weighing on them ; but to see suffering humanity deprived of the best , the purest of it ? friends , is too sad to witness oven for
me . The renown of his virtues secured to his memory the ¦ esteem of all good men . What must my feelings be . sir , aftor I have seen him associating himself publicly with me —with me , whom the aristocracy of England so anxiously shunned because I landed on your shores , not ¦ with the halo of success , though purchased with public perjury and private crimes , but a persecuted exile , fallen a victim to the duties of a patriot ? They shunned me—ho stood up at my sido , and cast the lustre of his virtues over the oxilo ' s neat ) . What must be myfeolings aftor I witnessed hia untiring exertions in "behalf of prostrate freedom * and in relief of its martyrs in distressaftor I have enjoyed the intimacy of his affections and the benefit of his support in public persecution alike as 5 n private distress , of my own , as well as of thousands of my brethren in misfortune , andhavo seen him especially devoted ,
with all the persevering zeal of his noblo soul , to the cause of Poland , all along tho longporiod of gloom which unpr incipled men of little fuith have cast over the very nnme of that ill-fated land ? Tlmo-hallowed private affectionS' - * tho fuithfrtl attachment to which is but an evidence of bin high morality—may hiivo led him sometimes too much to identify with individuals a giiusc which , shall it thrive , cannot admit tlio nation to bo absorbed by a party . But ho alwivya acted ¦ with porfect good faith , that ho is serving vvell his Poland dear ; and so much is sure , that Poland tuid oppressed humanity novcr can hnvo a friend more devoted than he . To mo , sir , it h / is loon n source of grout consolation in my public mistbrtuno and my privirto sorrows to have bcon able to boaBt of two such friends in oxllo as yon , Sir Joshua , and tho Into Lord Dudley . Ho has departed . I may transfer upon you , sir , tho . affection I owed him . Yot as long as thia heart of mino may continue to throb , that lioart will bo an altar on which the pure vestal fliuno of gratitude shall never csnao to blaflo . " Peace to hlo oahcit and honour to his naomory . Now to the task of tho day , "
POLAND AN 1 > THE WiE . All of us here present harmonise in the sentiment ^ prompted by the solemnity of the occasion ; all of us claim an equal share in payiag the tribute of veneration to the memory of that noble effort of national virtue whioh we assembled to commemorate ; and all of us unite in good wishes for the fall and perfect restoration of Poland , such as justice claims , her imprescriptible national rights demand , her dreadful long-sufferings deserve , and the security of Europe requires . But thongh all of us claim an equal share in these * sentiments ) the part we have to take in the pro * ceedings ia different . Since the thundering roar of cannon from around Sebastopol continues to rouse an echo of moaning fi rief from thousands of British homesteads , is there one Britisli heart all alone these isles the recesses of which had
not tlirilledwith the inquiry—whether the policy which presides over this war be a wise one— 'Whether those glorious dead whom tie world admires , and whom Great Britain bewails , have fallen a sanguinary tribute to dire necessity ; or ha"v © they fallen but a wanton sacrifice , immolated on the shrine of the errors of those who rule ? Can the aged mother , proud in her maternal joy yesterday and childless to-day- —can the fatherless orphan , standing like a broken reed—can the widow , cast upon public charity ( and 11 " , 000 already there are )—can the nation , maimed by the loss of the bravest and the best of her sons , can they comfort themselves with repeating the words Paulus / Emilius spoke when , from the funeral of both his sons , he rode Up in triumph to the Capitol ? Oan they say , f I feel the ruin of my homestead consoled by the good fortune of ihe commonwealth ? " Is there one man all
along these isles in the breast of whom the question had not risen , ¦ whether there be no better course for carrying on the . war ? A course sure to succeed , richer in results , and riot so > dreadful in sacrifices ? Yes , thatquestion . ' has'been asked byall , it stirred like the thrill of conscience through the breast of all , and whenever it has been , asked , and whenever it stirred , the pale spectre of assassinated Poland must ha-ve risen before your eyes , and the "words I have spoken oh the subject to the British nation must have haunted the very conscience of Britannia . Dissimulation may feign indifference , and make » sliow of slighting opinions which it dislikes 5 yet ,-when sad reality bears out the truth of disregarded anticipations , recollection comes home--with remorse to the Very resting-place of proud indifference , and of careless -neglect . Under these circumstances , the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Polish
revolution of 1830 is not a mere Polish domestic commemoration , intended to rouse the spirits of the Irving by recollections of a glorious past : it is a solemn warning for self-preservation addressed to British state wisdom : it is a query , by which the genius of the future is alout to test the vitality of the British empire . Hence the difference in the part we have to act . Poland makes the query—England has to answer- ^ - England , gentlemen , and not this assembly . The transactions of this evening will riot be wound up by words spoken within these walls , nor by the passing cheers some of them may have met . This is no question which England might dispose of by passing over 5 fc in silence . No answer will be an answer likewise . And such will be England's future , as England ' s answer will be . As to oiirselyes , representatives of other nationalities , we , while waiting till the nour for our own battle strikes ( and whale preparing for it , perhaps ) , wo recline on our arms , and watch , and witness , and warn .
HUKGART ' S SYMPATHY WITH POLAND . In keeping within the limits of this sphere , I would addross mysel f first , to you my brethren in misfortune , the Polish exiles , and then to England , sir , if you give me leave . To you , dear brethren in exile , I have a ^ word of thanks to speak , an assurance to give , and an advice to impart . It is eighty-one years einoe Poland first -was quartered by a nefarious act of convbined royalty , winch the Swiss Tacitus , Johannes Miller , well characterised by saying that " God permitted the act to show forth tho morality of Kings . " And it is twenty-four years since down-trodden Poland made tho greatest—not the last- —manifestation of her imperishable vitality , which the Cabinets of Europe wore oitlier too narrow-minded to > understand , or too corrupt to appreciate . Eighty-one years of still uaretributed crime , and twenty-four
years of misory in exile ! It is a long tirne to suffer and not despair 1 And all this time along you , proscribed patriots of Poland , -were suffering and did not despair . You stood up before Gtod and tho world a " living statue , " with the unquenchable life-flame of patriotism streaming through itB petrified limbs . You s-tood up a protest of eternal right against the sway of impious might , " Meno Tekcl tiphnrsin , " written in letters of burning blood on tho walls of overweening despotism . Time , misery , and sorrow thinned the ranks of your scattered Israel ; you have carried your dead to tho grave , and those who survived went on to suffer and to hope . Wlierover oppressed freedom reared a banner you rnllied around—the living statue changed to a fighting hero . Many of youra fe )^ and when crime triumphed onco more ov « r virtue and rijjht you resumed tho wandoring exile ' s wulking-stick and did not despair . Many amongst yon who wero young when they last saw tho sun risa over Poland ' s
mountains and plaina ha-ve their hair whitened and their strength broken -with ago , with anguish , nnd with misory ; but the patriotic heart kept tho freshness < if its youth . It is young in love of Poland—young in aspirations for her freedom—young in hopo , and youthfully Crash in determination to broak Poland ' s chains . Wlmt a rich source of noblo < lecda patriotism must bo that it gave you strength so much to suffer , and novcr to despair . You havo givon a noblo wimple to all of us your younger brethren in tho family of oxilcs , When tho battlo of Onnna was lost , and Hannibal was measuring by buahola tho rings of tho foiled Roman psquivos , tho beimto of Rome voted thnnka to tho Con » ul Terontiua Varrofor " not having doBpairod of tlio commonwealth . " Proaaribod patriots of Toland , I thank you , and history will thank you , that you have not dunpiired of ro-( jnrrootion and liberty . Iheso are tho thnnka I had to give . Tho tlin « draws nigh whon the oppressed nation *) will cull 1 their oppressors to a lust account , and tho millions of free
, in the fulness of their right and of their self-conscious strength , pass judgment on arrogant conquerors , privileged murderers , and perjured kings . In that supreme trial the oppressed nations will stand one for all and all for one Faults , errors , and misfortunes of the past were not in vain " It was a terrible ordeal school , but a school it was . All of us lave learnt something , and the best of what we have learnt is , that the principle of national fraternity is more than a philanthropic emotion ; it is the only effective guarantee of that freedom which we have to conquer and wnich . we will conquer . Let England and America , proud in their present security—let all those whom it concerns- mind my warning while it is yet time to mind it . Those who will not have contributed to the triumph of freedom while they had the power to contribute to it , shall have forfeited tbeir claim to a share in that mutual guarantee . If all the si < ms do not
deceive us , the men of Poland may be the first called upon to batter a breach . Many will stand by you , and others will h ' glit the common battle elsewhere . But though many they be , nearest is nearest , and close by is best . It is not in vain that nature , and nature ' s God , made Hungary a neighbour to Poland , and Poland a neighbour to Hungary . Our enemies are the same , and our cause is identical . The much I feel , the little I may know , and all I can , my heart , my brain , my arm , shall be with Poland . Remember this . Yet , though I mny have learnt something , the pledge of my own fraternal assistance is a small matter , anyhow . And even that little may be lost too soon . "We are mortal men , and I grow old , and am careworn . However , that is not worth while speaking of . I may be nothing , but Hungary is much And it is the genius of Hungary which assures you throngh my lips Hungary will stand by reviving Poland . Eemember my words . This is the assurance 1 had to give .
EKGIiANI > S DANGER— -AND POLAND ' S . Last comes the advice . The present complications of Europe—a necessary result of the crimes and errors of the past;—cannot be brought to a definite end without Poland acting her part . Of two things , one . Either an insufficient arrangement , leaving the next future unsettled and the war sure to recur again , more dangerous to some , more frightful to all who are parties to it ; or the war carried on to a definite issue . This is the only alternative . In the first case , Poland may lose time , but will riot have lost her cause . It is others shall have to rue the imprudence of such an irresolution . And none more than England , be sure of it—England , the great nation which the Times estimates to be " tottering on the climax of its greatness . " If this war is not carried to a happy definitive issue , the next time it
recurs , I apprehend , it shall be England ' s turn to present in her fate a second Poland in history ; may be , even here at home , who knows ? But certainly in and about America aud in India England's proud standing presents many a vulnerable point . So far there is a difference between Russia and the British empire , not to the advantage of the latter . England has many a vulnerable point ; Russia has but one-Poland ! Woe to those who , though at war with Russia , still disregard that fact . In the second alternative , why it is perfectly absurd to believe that matters can be . carried on without Poland . Those who mind this too late will be brought to > remember it with regret . Therefore , I say to you , men of Poland , Gird your loins , watch your opportunity , slumber in your armour , but from , this moment never more sleep . Remember the French proverb , " Aide toi , et Di&u .
t ' aidera . " ( Help thyself , and God will help thee . ) The moment is critical . It requires all the wisdom , all the discretion , and all the resolution of every Polish patriot . I have heard some whispering about tricks discussed in the dark recesses of secret diplomacy . Oh 1 the fatal word that workshop of conspiracy against mankind , fraught with more and deadlier crimes than ever were brought to light by tribunals and police-courts . I warn the Polish natipn to be on its guard . Cabinet diplomacy may call on Poland out of dire necessity , but if Poland , the nation , takes not in time a stand to . revindicate her personality , and to reassert the position of an equal , who as Weil has assistance to give as to receive , not merely an object but a party in tho
transactions , you may once more experience what you have already experienced from the secret transactions of tho Vienna Oongross in 1815 , where tho name of your nation has been made use of to secure concessions which were not of your concern , and , the concessions once secured , Poland thrown overboard and sacrificed to expediency . You may see the triclc performed onco more , Nob od y in tho world has tho right to dispose of Poland ' s destinies but Poland alono . I call on tho Polish nation to take in time such a stand that on tho one himd nobody shall dare to usurp her rights , and on tho other hand nobody shall dare to ignore her . I would sny to the Polislv nation , Bo prepared to receive assistance whencosoovor it rnay come , but beware how thou puttest thy trust in kings . They cannot liko Poland , bocauso they do not like liborty . This is my advice .
XWGLAND GALLANT DOT OUT-MANOStJVIlBD . Now to England , sir , if the assembly desiros mo to go on ; if not , I can atop hore , QLotid cries of " Go on . " ) First , nnd before all , I dusire to pay tho modest tribute of my highest admiration to tho heroic army in tho East , which , with so much glory , walks tho path of honour , of danger , and of death ; nothing daunted by tho reflection which could not have- escaped tho mind of many of them , that tho post of honour to which they havo been sent is certainly not tho best whioh might have been ohoson to begin with n war against llussla , and that ft wiser
polioy , by not faltering thoao auxiliary elements whom oircumataiices imperatively udviued to rosort to , might havo Bparod much of thoir heroic blood , all in promising riohor rusultN . Sir . I « an toll something about what heroism is . Thoununmcu domigodtt of Hungary who fought tlio gigantic Htrugglo of 1841 ) may well claim n . nlaoo of immortal renown in the mnka of tho bravest of tha lirnvo . And I who have wltiienHed thid , I nay history must go back for centuries to find out u battlo llko tlmfc at Inkormnn , whoro M , O 0 O won radiated vlotorionoly tlio valoroua attack of ( 30 , 000 woll « dtooiplinod troops , and where almost every man who fought on your eldo litia low ono of the onemy . Tho bflttlo ot
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1134 THE LEADER . [ Saturday
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 2, 1854, page 1134, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2067/page/6/
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