The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-17 00:00:00

THE INDEPENDENCE OF POLAND.

We are requested to publish the following reso-
lutions as well as the appended statement :
"At a public meeting held at the St. James's-hall, West-
minster, on Wednesday evening, July 22, 1863, Sir Jchn
Villiers Shelley, Bart., M.P., in the chair, upon the motion
of Mr. Edmond Beales (barrister-at-law), seconded by Mr.
George Odger (shoemaker), it was unanimously resolved,—
' That the devoted and self-sacrificing heroism of the Poles
in all their previous struggles in defence either of their own
rights or of the liberties of other nations, as well as in their
present struggle for the recovery of the freedom and inde-
pendence of their country, entitles them to the warm and
active affection and support of every free people ; while the
atrocious conduct of the Russians in their past misrule and
oppression of Poland, and in the war they are now waging
for us renewed subjugation, is an insult to Christendom
and an outrage on humanity.'
"Upon the motion of Mr. W. Cremer (joiner), seconded
by Sir Henry A. Hoare, Bart., it was further unanimously
resolved,—' That this meeting deprecates all negotiation
with Russia on the subject of Poland except on the basis of
the immediate cessation of the hostilites now raging, the
withdrawal of the Russian troops from every part of the
Polish soil, and the estaolishment of a separate and inde-
pendent Polish State, and is convinced that if an armed in-
tervention should become necessary for effecting these ob-
jects the sacrifices which such intervention might entail
upon the English people would be ctieerfully borne by them.'
"Upon the motion of Michael R. Barry, Esq., barrister-
at-law, seconded by Mr. Wm. Staineby, tailor, it was also
unanimously resolved,—` That a deputation wait upon Earl
Russell to lay before him the resolutions adopted at this
meeting, and to urge upon him an armed intervention, if
necessary, on the part of England for the restoration of the
independence of Poland. Such deputation to consist of the
chairman, the movers, seconders, and supporters of the re-
solutions, and such other friends of Poland as may be de-
sirous to attend.' _ _ _

" A vote of thanks to the chairman, proposed by Lord
Viscount Raynham, M.P., seconded by Mr. Connolly,
mason, closed the meeting.
" JOHN ROBERT TAYLOR, lion. Secretary."

" In February, 1861, the Poles, after 30 years of the
most cruel persecution, purposely intended to crush the
national spirit, and at an almost intolerable crisis of that
persecution, when innocent blood was flowing in the streets
of Warsaw, shed in an unprovoked military onslaught upon
a defenceless population, exhibited a firm but temperate
demeanour, a moral strength and power of self-control and
self-government, especially at the time of the peace of
Warsaw being wholly intrusted to them, which excited the
enthusiastic admiration of all Europe.
"Anxious, scrupulously anxious, not to overstep the
limits of law, they on that occasion simply addressed to the
Russian Emperor an expodtion of the griefs of the nation,
couched in dignified but respectful language, demanding
nothing, but merely laying bare before him, with truth and
fidylity, the oppressions endured for so many years.
"That address was a truly national one ; it bore the
signatures of the Catholic Archbishop, of the Ministers
of the Protestant Churches, and of the Chief Rabbi of
the Jews, as representing the several religious bodies in the
State; of Count Andrew Zamoyski, the President of the
Agricultural . Society, as representing the nobility and
gentry ; and of various merchants and bankers, as repre•
senting the moneyed and commercial interests.
" The answer to this address was the assembling of masses
of troops from different points at Warsaw, followed by a
receipt from the Emperor, referring to the address in the
most arrogant and contemptuous terms, treating it as the
effect of hasty impulse on the part of a few individuals, as a
document which he should consider unwritten, and, without
one word of regret for the unprovoked massacre, whieh had
been perthe preetfroartme ds,
awl al
ergnei nd gt
ot hbee Pi
no l
pe sr
oaggraeisnss, t yoarnin
di nutlegref
indulgence
rceen
in
inopportune and exaggerated aspirations, which would meet
with his severest reprobation.

"The reforms referred to in this insulting missive were
contained in an Ukase of the Ist of April, ordering the
establishment of a Council of State, to consist of Govern-
ment nominees, for the administration of State affairs, and
the establishment of provincial and municipal councils, to
consist of members to be elected by the Poles, for the ad-
ministration of local affairs, wii h the creation of a separate
department for ecclesiastical affairs and public instruction;
but the promise of these reforms, such as they were, was
accompanied by the dissolution of the Agricultural Society,
which had been long and peaceably engaged in really and
practically ameliorating the condition of the people, and
alone possessed their confidence.

"The futility, in fact, of these reforms, so far as regarded
any real security for person or property, was painfully ex-
emplified by the perpetration on the Bth of April of a still
more savage massacre than the former one, by organised
troops on a defenceless populace, men, women, and children,
with the accompaniment of the refined cruelty of forcibly
carrying off the bodies of both the dead and the wounded,
in order to prevent, if possible, any public demonstration of
sorrow by relations and friends, or any relief to the wounded.
" Still the nation remained quiet, in the hope that some
relief might be obtained by peaceful means and through the
provincial and municipal councils, the members of which
were elected on the 23d of September, 1861; and at the
same time the electors addressed a petition to the Emperor
on the general state of the country.
" These most peaceful and legitimate proceedings were
followed by acts on the part of the Government and the
Emperor which showed how impossible it was for the Poles
to place any faith in Russian promises ; how even the alleged
reforms were without any guarantee for their continuance or
execution—were in fact a mere trap to discover and ensnare
the men most trusted by the people.
"For as soon as the result of the elections was known the
councils were closed, many of the delegates were imprisoned,
some were actually draughtod to Siberia, the remainder
were placed under the surveillance of the police, and on the
14th of October, three weeks after the elections, Poland was
proclaimed in a state of siege and placed under martial law ;
the use of the national costume was prohibited, mourning
even was proscribed, and the churches were desecrated by
troops of Cossacks breaking into them and arresting the
congregations for singing national hymns.
" This state of things continued until the ukase of the
27th of May, 1862, which seemed to promise some relaxa-
tion of the national yoke, by separating th 3 civil from the
military government, and making the authorities of both
responsible to the Emperor's Lieutenant, such ukase being
followed by the appointment of the Emperor's brother, the
Grand Duke Constantine, as his Lieutenant of the King-
dom of Poland, and of the Marquis of Wielopolski as chief
of the civil government.

" Again, however, the relief was but nominal. According
to a report drawn up in July, 1862, by the Municipal Coun-
cil of Warsaw, there were arrested and brought to one only
of the prisons of that t.,wn, between Jan. Ist and July 19th
1862, no less than 14,833 persons, or one-fifth of the whole
adult population of the town, the prisoners consisting indis-
criminately of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, includ-
ing mothers with children at the breast.
" In the course of events there occurred also a fresh and
striking proof of Russians duplicity and faithlessness.
" In the month of Aug., 862, Count Andrew Zamoyski
was summoned to a conference with the Grand Duke, in
s
notwithstanding
h e
countryth lattere; h
and
dpe expressed stehde an desireth
ef to t knowthat
the
month
therea real
Grandwant
Duke addressed an appeal to the nation, complaining that
' benevolent intentions' of the Empe-
ror, and the reforms which had been introduced, he had
received no support from the Poles.
" These reforms were similar to those before mentioned,
together with a measure for the grant of land to the pea-
sants, as recommended by the Polish Agricultural Society;
but the Poles felt that they had no guarantee for their ob-
servance while the administration of affairs was wholly
in the hands of the Russians, and there was no real
security for either person or property. Accordingly,
upon the publication of this appeal, 300 of the chief Po-
lish landowners assembled openly at a public hotel at
Warsaw, and agreed upon an address to the Grand Duke
expressive of those wants and wishes of the country,
ot
the
e Gwhichove r
ni
mt
eNiv:Ltas the support
fwoirthtohuet
pt ho
lee 8 s at
ot i s ion
give to
which this appeal appeared to invite; the principal condi-
tion of that support being a national instead of a Russian
e
Administration, and the union of all the Polish provinces
subject to Russia under such National Administration—in
language,
fact, the management by Poles of the affairs of Poland.
" This address, couched in the most respectful
was placed in the hands of Count Andrew Zamoyski, as the
known friend of peace and order, and as the person whom
the Grand Duke had consulted and invited to be the expo•
nent of the national wishes.
"For concurring in and receiving this address the Count
was, in the following month of October, sent under escort to
St. Petersburg, and was thence ordered by the Emperor
into exile for an indefinite period, without permission even
to
atake leave of his family, although his wife was at this
tiafteerwrdsuaffering from illness, of which she died a few days
with
iiima
afterwards he Emperor having observed in the conference
the only way of governing Poland is by terror,