The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-29 00:00:00

THE INSURRECTION IN POLAND.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)

CRACOW, April 20.

Mr. Pope Hennessy arrived here last Friday from
Vienna, after previously passing through Paris.
Before the next morning nearly 700 persons bad
called upon him. Some left their portraits ; others
portraits of relations whom they had lost in the in-
surrection ; many of the visitors came from the
neighbouring villages, and deputations from various
parts of Galicia sent messages or brought cards.
On Sunday a grand banquet in honour of Mr.
Hennessy was given at the Club, or " Ressource."
Upwards of the 100 persons (nearly all attired in
the ancient Polish costume, worn only on State
occasions) sat down ; among whom were Count
Adam Potocki and M. Kirchmeyer, members of the
Galician Diet and representatives of Cracow in the
Reiehsrath ; Count Leon Skorupka, Deputy for the
city of Cracow in the Galician Diet; Count Henry
Wodzicki and M. Wieloglowski, also members of the
Diet ; M. Bantkowski, late chief of Llngiewiez's
S.aff, and, until the insurrection broke out, Deputy
for one of the districts of Posen in the Prussian
Chamber, &c.; proprietors from Posen, from the
Kingdom, from Lithuania, Vollapnia, Podolia, and
the Ukraine—in short, from every part of Poland—
were present ; and Cracow in particular was repre-
sented by members of all classes of the community,
it.cluding, of course, the adherents of " the Mosaic
Con fession."

Long before the cloth was removed, and, in ac-
cordance with the Polish custom, on the production
of the champagne, Count Leon Skorupka rose to
propose the toast of the evening. Without the
slightest foreign accent and in the most fluent
manner he delivered the following speech in Eng-
lish :

" Sir,—lt is my duty, as well as my right, as Deputy o

this town which you honour with your presence, to be the
first on this present occasion to bid you welcome. Ido it,
sir, not only in the name of the inhabitants of this old ne-
cropolis of Polish glory and Polish power, but also, I will
venture to say, in the general name of my countrymen,
who all would be happy to express their feelings of sincere
gratitude to the man who first, in present circumstances,
raised his voice in the Parliament of England in defence of
our sacred rights. Your deep feeling, sir, for our cause, the
powerful eloquence of your words pronounced in our favour,
spread your name rapidly in the remotest parts of our
country, and in our hearts the name of Hennessy placed
itself by the side of the memory of that great and faithful

friend of ours—Lord Dudley Stuart. Believe me, your task
so honourably chosen will not be sterile, and already the
general sympathies of the people of England stand as a
proof that the principles of right and justice which you ac-
cepted to defend will sooner or later also prevail in the des-
tinies of our country, supported by the powerful action of
pur Government. My voice is unable to exp'ess rightly
the strength of our feelings, and the number of persons
here does not answer to what this town wished to do for
your reception. But as, unaccustomed to speak your lan-
guage, I am obliged to limit myself to these few words, so
their number is limited by the place itself, all our larger
public halls being now given up for the use of our wounded
brethren. Permit me in conclusion to drink your health."
Mr. Hennessy replied as follows :

" Gentlemen,—Though I regret I cannot speak in your
native tongue, I shall not apologise for thanking you in the
English language, for it is the language of a free people,
ever friendly and now devoted to Poland. Nor can I be
content with merely offering to you my heartfelt gratitude
for this great and unexpected ovation ; I thank you also
for giving me an opportunity, in this ancient and famous
city, of reviewing your present situation. At this moment
you are a nation. In the year 1862, and for many a year
before, the world gave you much idle sympathy, and much
of that barren pity it bestows on those whose doom is
supposed to be sealed. In the year 1861 sentiment has
given place to reality; the world has been awakened to
the accomplished fact of your existence; Europe is wel-
coming you once more into her family. For this great
fact—that you are now a nation—Poland has to thank the
Poles. Three months ago the insurrection burst forth ; day
after day it gathered strength and spread across the land,
and at this hour the number of patriot soldiers at war with
Russia and the area over which they operate are greater
than they have ever been. Add to this, that the winter is
passed ; that mutual confidence now exists between all sec-
tions of the national party, and that the Russians are pro-
posing terms and talking of concessions. Such are the results
achieved in Poland by the Poles. Second only to these great
events are the victories the Poles have won outside of Poland.
In England we find public opinion pronouncing more strongly
every day in your favour. What could demonstrate this
more clearly than the four important and influential meet-
ings held on behalf of Poland in London, Liverpool, Man-
chester, and Sheffield ? In France the same unanimity of
feeling is shown whenever the name of your noble and un-
happy country is mentioned—and the name of Poland is now
on:every one's lips. In Italy two Powers exist, which, differ-
ing in their views on all other questions, are yet agreed on
the subject of Poland,—the Poles may reckon equally on the
sympathies of the Holy Father and of King 'Victor Emma-
nuel. Sweden, bound to Poland by common traditions of
liberty, has declared with one voice that it adopts your cause.
In fine, wherever public opinion exists the word has gone
forth that Poland must be free. I, for my part, am against
all compromise, and say, as I have always said, that the
Poland you must have is Poland united, free, and inde-
pendent. I see around me many Deputies, but I cannot
forget that they are Deputies in a foreign Parliament.
When next I have the pleasure of visiting your beautiful
country may they be the representatives of the Polish
nation sitting in a Polish Diet."
At the conclusion of the dinner Count Wodzicki,
member of the Galician Diet, presented Mr. Hen-
nessy with a very handsome silver goblet studded
with facsimiles of ancient Polish medals and coins,
and bearing this inscription, " To Pope Hennessy,
the sincere advocate of Polish rights ; grateful
Cracow."
M. Siemienaki, a poet of celebrity, and one of
the editors of the Czas, then came forward and re-
cited some verses, of which the following is a
translation:—

cc I,

" How shall we greet our guest of the great nation which
rule. alone o'er Neptune's realms P Shall we welcome
him with a golden honeycomb, as in the days of the
Piasts, or with a gift of horses from the Hetman's
stud ? Or shall we offer him the far-famed sword of
Zolkiewski ; or, lastly, admit him to the rights of the
country's nobility ?

" 11.

" Thus in ancient times did the King and the National Diet
greet envoys and visitors of mark. But since Poland
has been stretched on the cross the Pole has become a
stranger in his own home; and he has aow no chargers
to offer, he seeks in vain for swords, and the honey is
all gone. The wasps have eaten it up I
" 111.

" With what, then, shall we greet thee—unless with an old
legend drawn from the people's Sibylline Books, and
written down in the days when the nation rose with
faith in the name of the Virgin and strove with arms
against its enemies? It was then that an inspired bard,
while bewailing the agony of Pt land, foretold its re-
demption.

" IV.

" And though the legend itself is dark it speaks to us
nevertheless of Albion, and tells how daylight sball
first break upon us from ht..r cliffs, and then the Turk
shall water his horses under the walls of Cracow.

" Lo I beneath the funeral pall the heart of Poland beats
once more. Guest, thou art surely the wished-for herald
of the joyful tidings."

Allusion is made in the last two stanzas to a
popular legend, written by a Polish Cossack named
Wernyhora in 1768, when the confederates of Bar
rose against the Russian invasion which preceded
the first partition. The prediction is to the effect
that the first signs of the restoration of Polish inde-
pendence will come from Eogland, and that then
the Turks will water their horses before the church
of St. Mary at Cracow. At present, if the Russians
are not actually at the foot of this church, they can
be seen nevertheless from the highest of its two lofty
towers. The sky is now beautifully olear, and from
the belfry of St. Mary's any one, with a tolerably
good glass, can see the Cossack patrons keeping
guard outside the ruins of Miechow.
During the dinner an immense crowd had assem-
bled in the market-place, which the winnows of the
Ressource overlook, and the soldiers were called out
to watch the proceedings. An enthusiastic cheer
was raised for Mr. Hennessy, which was repeated
with increased vigour when ho appeared to acknow-
ledge it. Not only did the troops not interfere, but
many of them—probably the Poles and Bohemians
of the regiment—raised their hats and waved them
in the air. The crowd was composed of persons of
all classes, and, for the most part, of tradespeople,
workmen, and peasants.

April 21.
The following order, addressed by the Governor
of Galicia, Count Mensdorff, to all the principal
functionaries of the province, has just been commu-
nicated to me :

ic IMPERIAL LIEUTENANCY, LEMBERG—No. 662•
" As the passage of men and transport of arms into the
Kingdom of Poland, with the view of aiding the insurrec-
tion, still continues, I cannot recommend you strongly