The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-02 00:00:00

THE INS

:N POLAND.

BRESLAU, March 29.

The Archbishop of Warsaw has addressed a letter
to the Czar, in which occurs the following charac-
teristic passage :
" At a time of terrible calamity and bloodshed I
feel it my duty to address your Majesty, and to tell
you, in my capacity as chief of the Polish establish-
ment, what are the only means of putting a stop to
the indescribable misery which has befallen our
land.

" Administrative reforms, whatever their extent
and import, are no longer calculated to satisfy the
Poles. There is not a man in the country to be
gained over by the tender of mere administrative
improvement. The nation yearns for political life
and the restoration of independence. The most
terrific repression will never be powerful enough to
eradicate a spirit filling all Polish souls, and which,
I regret to say, tends, from day to day, to deepen
the gulf between the nation and the throne. It is
only by the revival of Polish independence and the
maintenance of no more than a dynastic connexion
with Russia that your Majesty can remove the pro-
bability of ruling, in no distant future, over a coun-
try consisting of ruins, and where public prosperity
is a myth of the past. I trust your Majesty will
not hesitate to adopt a less painful alternative at a
time when insurrection begins to flag and subside.
Powerful and independent as you are, your Majesty
will not believe that to be generous implies to be
weak."

Fresh detachments of the Grenadier corps have
arrived at Warsaw. This force has been distributed
over the interior to guard against rural commotion;
but its place in Russia is being gradually filled up
by Ki:lm ucks, Bashkirs, and other Tartar horsemen,
In addition to this reinforcement part of the
northern garrisons are being despatched to the
south. As a necessary consequence rebellion obtains
a temporary ascendancy in Augustowo and Plock.

The fall of Langiewicz is said to be the signal for
Mieroslawski's return to the camp; but rumours
are too vague as yet to allow of any credit being
attached to the story. Thus much, however, seems
to be certain—that the fall of his rival has not par-
ticularly contributed to endear Mieroslawaki to the
nation.

A Special Correspondent in a Balloon.

(From the St. James•s Magazine.)

The " Professor" aroused me at three o'clock,
when I found the canvas straining its bonds, and
emitting a hollow sound, as of escaping gas. The
basket was made fast directly, the telescopes tossed
into place; the Professor climbed to the side, hold-
ing by the network; and I coiled up in a rope at
the bottom. " Stand by your cables," he said, and
the bags of ballast were at once cut away. Twelve
men took each a rope in hand and played out slowly,
letting us glide gently upward. The earth seemed
to be falling away, and we poised motionless in the
blue ether. The tree tops sank downward, the hills
dropped noiselessly through space, and directly the
Chickahominy was visible beyond us, winding like
a ribbon of silver through the ridgy landscape.
" Guess I got 'em now, jest where I want 'em," said
Lowe, with a gratified laugh ; " jest keep still as
you mind to, and squint your eye through my glass,
while I make a sketch of the roads aad the country.
Hold hard there, and anchor fast !' he screamed to
the people below. Then he fell imperturbably to
work, sweeping the country with his hawk eye,
and escaping nothing that could contribute to the
completeness of his jotting. We had been but a few
minutes thus poised, when close below, from the
edge of a timber stretch, puffed a volume of white
smoke. A second afterward, the air quivered with
the peal of a cannon. A third, and we head the split-
ting shriek of a shell, that passed a little to our
leff, but in exact range, and burst beyond us in the
ploughed field, heaving up the clay as it exploded.
" Ha!" said Lowe, "they have got us foul
Haul in the cables—quick !" he shouted, in a fierce
tone. At the same instant, the puff, the report, and
the shriek were repeated ; but this time the shell
burst to our right in mid-air, and scattered frag-
ments around and below us. " Another shot will
do our business," said Lowe between his teeth ; "it
isn't a mile, and they have got the range." Again
tte puff and the whizzing shock. I closed my eyes,
and held my breath hard. The explosion was so
close, that the pieces of shell seemed driven across
my face, and my ears quivered with the sound. I
looked at Lowe, to see if he was struck. He had
sprung to his feet, and clutched the cordage fran-
tically. " Are you pulling in there, you men P' he
bellowed, with a loud imprecation. " Puff! bang !
whiz-z-z-z splutter !" broke a third shell, and my
heart was wedged in my throat. I saw at a glimpse
the whole bright landscape again. I heard the
voices of soldiers below, and saw them running
across fields, fences, and ditches, to reach our an-
chorage. I saw some drummer boys digging in the
field oeneath for one of the buried shells. I saw the
waving of signal fligs, the commotion through the
camps—officers galloping their horses, teamsters
whipping their mules, regiments turning out, drums
►►eating, and batteries limbered up. I remarked, last
of all, the site of the battery that alarmed us ; and by
a strange sharpness of sight and sense, believed that
I saw the gunners swabbing, ramming, and aiming
the pieces. " Puff ! bang ! whiz•z-z•z ! splutter !
crash." " Puff! bang ! whiz z z z! splutter! crash."
" My --," said Lowe, hissing the words slowly and
terribly, " t hey have opened upon us from another
battery." The scene seemed to dissolve. A cold dew
broke from my forehead. I grew blind and deaf.
. I had fainted. " Pitch some water in his face,"

said somebody. "He ain't used to it. " Helloe
there, he comes to." I staggered to my feet. There
must have been a thousand men about us. They
were looking curiously at the aeronaut and me.

Tne balloon lay turning and struggling on the clods.
Three cheers for the Union bal-loon 1" called a
little fellow at my side. " Hip, hip—hooroar
hooroar! hooroar."