The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-13 00:00:00

THE POLISH INSUET.,_77CTION.

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AP.S.x e lit

A p.

;7

LI tui it) vi7A:,u! t y P.l, "11
vanquished and dishonoured at the feet of the

tyrant."
The proclamation also states that the committee
"in emancipating the peasants is not led by the
fantastic theories which elsewhere threaten to upset
European society." _ _ .

CRACOW, March 11 (Evening).

It is confirmed that the independent members of
he Council of State for Poland have tendered their

resignation.
The members of the municipal council of Warsa ff
have also resigned.

WARSAW, March 11 (Evening).

The Archbishop of Warsaw, Monsignor Felinski,
has tendered his resignation as member of the
Polisn Council of State.

BRESLAU, March 12.

The Fchksische Zeitung of to-day states that be-
fore marching General L tugiewiez received 2,700
muskets with ammunition, a supply of provisions,
and a reinforcement of cavalry.
KATTOWITZ, March 12.
A body of insurgents e, countered the Russiin
troops at Sosnowicz to day.
A sanguinary engagement ensu d.
The Russian officials in the town had already
taken to flight when reinforcements arrived.

The insurgents were disdersed, and a portion of
their number driven on to Prussiin territory.

Though the accounts we receive of the Polish
Insurrection are still co:itrt.dictory, they supply
abundant evidence that the movemi nt is still tar
from being repressed. The provisional government,
which seems to b fil all the vigilance of the Rub.
sian authorities, recently gave fresh indications of
vitality by issuing three proclamations, whicti have
been disseminated tar and wide by ins secret journal.
The first of these proclamations is addressed to the
Lithuanians, and it calls upon them to follow the
example already set by their brethren who are in
arms. The second proclamation is addressed to the
inhabitants of Podolia, Vo;hynia, and the province
of Little Russia, urging t em to unite against the
common enemy. The third proclamation enjoins
the Poles under Prussian and Austrian dominion
to remain quiet, but to afford the insurrection all
the moral and material aid at their disposal.
A letter from St. Petersburg, under date of March
3, published by the Independance Beige, says that
public opinion in the Russian capital is becoming
more favourable to the cause of the Poles. What
may be called the Tory party in St. Petersburg is
strongly opposed to the insurgents. It believes

that Poland must be all but exterminated if
Russia is ever to enjoy tranquillity. It counsels
the most repressive and vio,ent measures as the
only means of putting an end to the movement.
Mote liberal men, however, and these are said to
form the majority, consider Poland to be a source
of weakness to Russia, and think that the Emperor
would do well to renounce a sovereignty which has
scarcely more than a nominal character, and so put
an cud to bloodshed, which is only increasing the
animosity existing between the two nations. The
writer thinks that if a " well-intentioned " power
were to tette the initiative in convoking a congress
to examine the question, Russia would not object
to take part in it, and the independence of Poland
under a constitutional monarch, freely elected,
might perhaps be the result without overmuch op-
position from the cabinet of St. Petersburg. He
adds :
" I repeat it, Russian opinion is decidedly
favourable to a complete separation, and the Em-
peror himself, if once the honour of his arms
were assured, would not perhaps be sorry to ap-
pear to yield to pressure. Meanwhile the war
bulletins seem to justify the old adage, r False
as a bulletin.' They tell lies, in fact, with
incredible coolness. Every d y we hear of

conflicts in wt•ich the ground is disputed inch
by inch against the insurgents for four or five
hours consecutively ; 100. 200,300 of their number
are killed.; they are made pi isoners; thfir wag
gons, bsggage, even their guns taken, and the Rus
inns have 'one man killed and two slightly
wounded.' The scythes, those terrible arms which
50 swiftly cut oft the legs of horses and the heads
if men, occasion, etccording to the bulletin, mere
ins'gnific •nt scratches. The Russiins, even of the
highest class, can no longer read these bul!etins
without disgust They argue in this very simple
manner—lf so many of the insurgents are killed,
if their supplies are so frequent►y c4ptared, why
does the insurrection still continue? It, too, the
Russians only expt-rience such insignificant losses,
why those,regitnents which dep.ri every day for
the seat of war ? Why so many forces accumulated
upon a territory which can only be conquered by
fire and extermination ?' It is time that such ridi-
culous falsehoods, in which no one 13,lieves, should
end, and the simple truth be told."
The Paris Presse of yesterday gives from private
sources an approximate estimate of the insurrec-
tional forces in Poland. It seems that on the 25th
alt. these were held by the leaders of the move-
ment to amount to 47,090 men, and since then the
Duchy of Posen seems to have supplied a contin-
gent of 3,000.
M. Emile de Girardin says that the Poles have
this alternative—,‘ Either liberty by peace, with
the same securities as that of the Austrians,
Prussians, and Russians, or independence by war--
France with Italy, but without England, fighting
against the Russians, Prussians, and Austrians."
General Langiewicz has received the following
letter from Garibaldi:—

"Caprera, March 1.

" My dear Langiewicz,—May God bless you, and
with you the sacred cause of your country ! You
will triumph by conducting your insurrection, as
you do, in detail; and by propagating the move-
ment through the whole of ancient Poland—and
beyond those limits if you can. You will thus
afford time to realise in fact the sympathies which
you merit from all the world. You have already
accomplished wonderful things—well worthy .f the
name of Poland. At the head of your youth you
achieve miracles. We will all he with you—and
" JOSEPH GARIBALDI."

soon.

The official account, published by General Lan-
giewicz, of the battles of Praskowa-Skala and
Slt,la has been received in Paris, dated Cracow,
the 7th inst. At 10 in the 'Doming of the 4th of
March, a strong column of Russian infantry at-
tacked the Polish c anp at Praskowa-Sk ila under
cover of a thick fog. This corps, commanded by
General Prince Schachowski, was preceded by about
50 Cossacks. The Poles rusted forward, and were
received with a smart fire from the Russian in-
fantry, who fired not less than 35 shots eac'•, white
+he insutg. ut riff men had not more than six
rounds of ball cartridge. The fire of the latter
was nevertheless so well directed that, for four hours
it prevented the Russians from advancing. At 2 in
the afternoon a battalion of silhemen charged tha
Russian infantry, and forced them to retreat in
confusion to Wolbron. The Poles lost 12 killed
.ind nine wounded in this aff...ir. The Russians
lost considerably more, in cousequf nc of the rre-
cision with which the insurgent rift: Wren fired. At
ten the same evening the insurgents marched to
the small town of Skala, which was occupied by
a Russian column which had come from Michow.
the column was composed
of two companies of
r4l,,men, a comphy of infantry, a detach-
ment of the frontier guard, and about 100 Cos-
sacks. Tile Russians were encamped in theohureh-
yard of Skala, and were defended by a high wall.
GAieral Langiewiez resolved to force the position,
and to make prisoners of the Russian corps. To
accomplish his purpose he ordered the churchyard
to be attacked at two sides simultaneous'y, but the
impatience of the Poles prevented its success. Pi;
first body, which approached without being per- k
calved by the Russians, could not resist the tempta-
tion of firing on them. Firing then began on both
sides, but it did not last long, inasmuch as the in-
surgents had very little powder. Langiewicz, ci-n-
-sequently, ordered the sithemen to advance in three
columns. The latter marched gallantly a distance
of 1,200 yards under a heavy fire of musketry, and
then stopped for a moment under the shelter of