The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-31 00:00:00

THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
LEMBERG, JULY 23.
Thera gill seems to be some doubt in England as
to whether the concessions proposed by the Western
Powers to Russia on behalf of the Poles will, if
Russia consents to make them, be accepted by the
Poles. Not only the insurgents, but the men who
direct the insurrection, the men who look on and
approve the insurrection, and even the very few
who look on and disapprove it, and who have whis-
pered from the beginning that no good could come
of such a movement,—all agree in saying that no
measures based on the Six Points will ever satisfy
or even tranquillise Poland. The Poles may, and
in the absence of an intervention doubtless will, be
shot and sabred into submission; but the Six
Points wi I not, cannot, and ought not to have any
effect whatever upon their resolutions; for they
possessed quite as much as is now asked for them
before the insurrection began, and they know that
they could have it all again, with a great deal more
added, if they would only lay down their armsof their
own accord, and for once admit the right of Russia to
govern them. The Poles of the Kingdom had re-
presentative institutions, a Polish administration,
and entire religious freedom before the insurrection
broke out. Tney had, moreover, just received an
educational system immeasurably superior to any
that had ever been known before in Poland, except
during the period of fifteen years that elapsed be-
tween the formation of the Kingdom and the rising
which led to the withdrawal of its constitution ;
and there was even some probability—at least the
project was entertained—of establishing a Polish
University at Wilma. the capital of Lithuania. If
the Russian Government were to abolish once more
the University of Warsaw, close the eight new
gymnasiums, and abandon, with the rest of the
Marquis Wielopolski's scheme, his plan for founding
village schools, it might then grant all the English,
French, and Austrian demands, and, turning round
to the Poles, say to them, See what a position
your friends have placed you in. There was some
hope for you before, but there is none now ; and
you have brought all this on yourselves by looking
for sympathy and assistance to the west of Europe."
The importance of the Marquis Wielopolski's re-
forms was called attention to in the limes when
they were first introduced, but they had no effect in
checking the progress of the insurrectionary move-
ment, and when once this movement had taken the
form of open resistance it was out of the question
to think of appeasing it by reforms of precisely
the same character as those which had been already
tried without success. The immediate cause of the
insurrection was, as every one knows, the conscrip-
tion, or " proscription ;" but as since 1831 the
conscription in Poland has never been anything but
a " proscription," they alone would not have pro-
voked the rising, which had been long in prepara-
tion, and was not a protest against any particular
act or nets of tyranny, hut rather against repeated
attempts at conciliation made by a foreign and
generally tyrannical Government.
As long as the Poles suffer in peace no one carts
what- happens Ito them. It is only when they rise
in arms that Europe begins to ask what ails them ;
and Europe has been informed this time that their
great grievance is bad government, and, in pr-
ticular, an unjust system of recruitment. The
Poles, however, wanted, and want now, to shake
off the Russian rule, which they 11,:ve never sub-
mitted to, exc.-pt from compulsion, and which
would be hateful to them even if it were very
much milder than it has ever been or is likely
to be. The government of Alexander 11. may
hive been very bad, but until the commence-
ment of the Warsaw demonstrations, and for some
time afterwards, it was incomparably less severe
than that of Nicholas, under whom, as was well
understood on both sides, the slightest attempt at
a " demonstration" would at once nave been checked
by artihery. Moreover, whatever the absolute
value of the reforms introduced by the Russian
Government may have been, it is quite certain that
reforms as important as those now recommended by
the Western Powers were introduced, and that they
did not tango the demonstrations to cease for a day.
Indeed, the Government was told fairly and openly
by Count Andrew Z tmoyaki, the representative of
the moderate party, that nothing less than the full
execution of the promises made by Alexander I. in
1815 could give peace to Poland, while the extreme
party announced with equal candour, through the
publications of the Central Committee, that it would
make no terms whatever with Russia, and that its
sole object was to liberate Poland from foreign op-
pression.
Lord Russell's reference to the Emperor Alex-
ander's project for uniting the Russo-Polish pro
vinces to the Duchy of Warsaw has caused many
persons here to entertain a hope that the " Poland"
on whose behalf the three Westerns Powers are
writing Notes may, after all, be something more
than the kingdom. Indeed, if Lord Russell thinks
only of the kingdom, it is impossible to understand
what he meant the other night in the House of Lords
by saying that Russia had "attacked the religion
and language of the Poles," and that the Poles
might be induced to lay down their arms by the pro-
spect of obtaining an amnesty, free institutions, and
the use of their own language in their courts of
justice." A formal law establishing " a legal and
regular system of recruitment" already exists in the
Kingdom of Poland, though, like other laws, it is
not observed; but in the courts of justice the Poles
of the kingdom not only have a right to use their
own language, but, as a matter of fact, never use any
other. In the newly established University, in the
gymnasiums, and schools and in all the public
offices, Polish is the official medium of communica-
tion. Even during the reign of the Emperor
Nicholas the national tongue was never seriously
interfered with in the Kingdom, and since the ac-
cession of the present Emperor its use in all public
affairs has been legalised and rendered obligatory.
As for the Ca holie religion it is no more " at-
tacked in the Kingdom of Poland than in Eng-
land. The ministers of that religion have recently
been •
Bnhkel ed to shameful persecutions for political
causes; nee no attempt has ever been made to
force the Poles of-•
the Kingdom to abandon their
faith. Eventhe Greek Uniates it' the Ruthenian
districts of
the Kingdom are suffered to remain
Greek Uniates
still,
of their reiigiepnro ;
i and enjoy the free exercise
provinces
in Lithuania and in
the Ruthenian nces.they have all been driven
into the fold of the ,0 58140 Church. In short, to
ask the Russians to repeat t.
he
national religion and
language of the Poles 11 the
make a superfluous and really
but it would be a request of the unmeaning request ;
highest moment if
made in connection with Lithuania and the pro
t
vinces of the South. There language and reli •
gion of the Poles are really attacked,pti but there (if
Lord Russell's speeches and diplomatic
notes aree tt oe
be ready literally) no attempt is to bem ad
defend them.
Unless the English, French, and Austrian Notes
be regarded as only the preludes to further demands,
the most important of the communications addressed
to the Russian Government on behalf of Poland is
the letter from the Pope, which recommends quite
a new state of things in the provinces incorporated
with the Russian empire ; whereas the diplomatic
Notes seem only to recommend the adoption in the
Kingdom of what, in principle, has been already
adopted. The religious question in the Russo-Polish
provinces is of the highest importance, for there
every member of the Latin Church is a Pole, and
every member of the Greek Church a Russian. Pro-
fessor Salavieff, of the University of Moscow, lays
it down as a principle in his " History of Russia,"
that Russia and Poland are separated only by re-
ligious frontiers—that as far as the Russian re-
ligion extends Russia extends, and that where the
to be in the ascendant there
Catholic religion ceases
Poland ceases. Accordingly Russ.a advances her
frontier towards the west whenever she compels
Greek Uniates to abandon the union with Rome and
to embrace " orthodoxy," and it is with a view to a
rectification of frontiers that the Pope wishes to see
full religious liberty introduced into all the pro-
vinces of ancient Poland.

The Pope declares that all the evils from which
the Poles suffer arise from the persecution of the
Catholic Church by the Russian Government; and

it is at least certain that this persecution has in-
jured and weakened Poland as a nation to a con-
siderable extent. Thus, since the first rtition,
Poland has lost some eight or nine m ion Poles
through forced conversions, and it ati, uses a cer-
tain number every year, for se here a marriage
takes place between a Catholic an a Russo-
Greek the children have to be brought up as Russo-
Greeks. Perhaps Protestants are not aware that
this rule applies also to the issue of marriages be-
tween Protestants and members of the Russian
Church. The fact that such is the case induces the
Poles to hope that the first time Russia can be got
into a Conference she may be requested by the
European Powers to introduce religious liberty into
the Russian Empire in general. In this question
ether nations are interested as well as the Poles;
but it is nevertheless in the Russo-Polish provinces
alone, where members of the Western and Eastern
churches live side by side, that it possesses any very
great practical importance. In the kingdom of
Poland, where the immense majority of the popu-
lation are Catholics, the unjust law on the subject
of mixed marriages also exists, but it can scarcely
be said that in this part of the ancient Polish Re-
public the Catholic religion is persecuted.
Since the publication of the Russian reply to the
English note, the Poles seem to have come to the
conclusion that this note really means much more
than appears on the surface, or that otherwiseits
very moderate demands (with the exception, per-
naps, of the armistice) would at once have been
granted. Accordingly it is hoped, more than ever,
that the diplomatic intervention may lead to a series
of misunderstandings and complications which will
at last leave the intervening Powers no choice but
to declare war against Russia. " Suppose," wrote
the Czas, a few days age—
" Russia should accept the six points and reject
the armistice and the conference : would not the
Powers be obliged to press these two propositions
upon her in order to bring the question to an issue ?
But suppose she should agree to all the propositions,
and that the Conference should meet P In this cure
it will either break up without any conclusion being
arrived at—and we cannot possibly admit that this
could be regarded as a reason for abandoning the
cause of Poland—or it will come to some understand-
ing, and then Poland will not accept the arrange-
ment based on the six points, but will go on fighting.
Would the Powers, exasperated against Poland,
abandon her altogether ? No; for they are not act-
ing on behalf of Poland, but on behalf of their own
interests, as set forth in this formula : "The re-estab
lishment of Poland in permanent conditions of peace."
in the case supposed by us peace would be less easy
to secure than ever, and the Powers would be obliged
to propose other measures in order to attain their
desired end."
The new journal of the National Government en-
titled Independance also contains an article on " the
six points," in which the following passage occurs:
—" For us there is no question of reforms, no ques-
tion of a greater or lesser amount of suffering—and
greater there can scarcely be; what we are fighting
fur is our life."
Indeed, Poland is in the position of an injured
wife, who will make any sacrifices to get free from
the power of a husband whom she has always hated
Ind has endeavoured more than once to kill. She
knows that she is now risking her existence against
nis, that he is ten times es strong as she is, and that
in his heart, whatever he may say, he will never
forgive her for seeking his destruction just when,
for the first time in his lite, he wasengaged in doing
a good work, which seemed to absorb the whole of
his energies. The chances of arranging this quarrel
by prevailing upon the husband to make a small
separate allowance to the wife, which the wife has
declared she does not want, are certainly not very
encouraging, and if we only attempt this we shall
be attacked before long by wife and husband to-
gether, and shall be asked by the former what busi •
ness we had to interfere in her quarrels and increase
the wrath of her husband against her, if we had no
intention of setting her free.

JULY 24.
In reference to some recent remarks of mine on
the conduct of the Polish National Government in

sentencing persons to death without trial I am now

assured 1;--iat at least no one has been condem❑ed

without being formally accused, nor without having
had an opportunity affirded him of eofEnding him-

self. A trial has always been offered under un-

vourable circumstances no doubt ; but neverthless,

he offer has been made. My informant also

requests me to observe that the Polish National Go-
vernment, being at war with Russia, has a right to

:ake such measures as the Gener4l of a Polish army

in campaign against the Russians would, by the or-
dinary military law, have a right to adopt. Tne

commander of a regiment marching against the
enemy if he found a traitor in his ranks would, in
the first place, shoot the traitor, and in the second

_ .
place would present himself before a court-martial to
account for having in an arbitrary manner caused

him to be shot. The Polish National Government

will I am told, but cannot believe, be prepared at a

fitting time to maintain and prove the justice of
all its sanguinary and eminently revolutionary pro-
ceedings, which are the more remarkable from the
fact that the best men in Poland are most anxious
that their cause should not be confounded with

that of revolution in general.
But if even the right of private assassination be
conceded to the Poles (and to deny it would be to
give prove of a sadly illiberal and unsympathetic
nature) they ought at least to be careful not to kill
the wrong man. After the arrest of C.eint Severin
Borkowski, at Lemberg, a photographer was sur-
rounded in the street and murdered on suspicion of
having " denounced" the Count to the police. lam
assured now, by persons who are well acquainted
with all the circumstances under which Count Bor-
kowski was arrested, that the said photographer had
nothing to do with the matter; and moreover, that
when the " revision" took place at Count Borkow-
ski's house nothing of a compromising character
was found. The fact is, no denunciations are neces-
sary, for it is well known that almost every edu-
cated man in Galicia has taken some active part
in helping the insurrection, and that every one,
without exception, who is in the receipt of an
income has contributed towards its expenses-
The Austrian Government would soon count its
prisoners by tens of thousands if it under-
took to confine all persons whom it had a right to
suspect of having given aid to the national move-
ment. As it is, the police arrest from time to time
some man of distinction, and keep him in prison by
way of example to the others. They have, gene-
rally speaking, no proofs that these selected victims
have broken the law, but they feel that it is quite
impossible that men like the Sapiehas and the
Borkowskis should not be doing their utmost to
promote the liberation of their country. It has
been said that Prince Adam Sapieha had something
to do with the departure of the Volhynian expedi-
tion. As at least 5,000 men were connected
with it one way or another, it is quite
possible that the Prince may have been one of the
number. Nevertheless, after his house had been
thoroughly searched from top to bottom, neither
arms, nor ammunition, nor even a scrap of paper
could be discovered on which to base an accusation.
oaelliesdatth this moment, like many others, confined
81'3314 on suspicion. As he is in bad health, it is
hafewdnasy; he may be liberated o;
and allowed to go to some watering place in
the Austrianatin
doniinio but this is by no means
certain.
The Austrian Governmentmay fairly be charged
with having violate
of these arrests
character have lately been ; but accusations of quite another
number of pretended friends
madeho by
of Poland
the Paoglaeisnastndit a,
which are so entirely without
moreover, of so absurd
way
acyhairnateou foundation, and
character, that, had they
not at last found their
to journals of respec-
tability, tability, I should think it useless
saytes anythinz
about them. I have seen some of these
started, have watched their flight, and. have been
astonished to find hospitality afforded to them in
places where they ought never to have been ad-
mitted. It is such an advantage for Poland to
have one of the partitioning Powers on its side that
if the wisest men in the country have any influence
over the most foolish, they ought certainly to exer-
cise it in order to prevent the circulation of calum-
nies against their newly made friend. It is quite