The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-03 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—We beg you to insert in the columns of
your esteemed journal the following document, and
remain, with our best regards, yours, &c.,
A. HERZEN,
N. OGAREFF,
Editors of the Bell.
Orsett-house, Westbourne-terrace.

"The present Polish movement is not understood by all
Russians in its real character. In Russia all knowledge
about it is drawn from official statements, German papers—
often paid, always hostile—and certain French papers,
badly informed as to the state of our affairs. This is the
cause of many Russians considering our present movement
from the old point of view of an aristocratic Polish rising,
with the end to recover by force the historical boundaries
of Poland.

" All this is false. The union of Poles and Russians to
struggle in common for their emancipation from under the
yoke of despotism affords such evident advantages for both,
that we decided upon explaining to your friends, through
you, the basis of the new Polish movement.
" The fundamental ideas with which Poland now rises
are—The right of the peasants to become proprietors of the
land they now cultivate, and the right of every people to
dispose themselves of their own fats.
" The aim of this letter is to give you the possibility of
stating that you are fully aware of our mode of considering
the fundamental questions of our cause.
" The question about the proprietorship of the peasants
is settled by all Poland without difference of political
parties ; all agree the peasants must receive the land they
Cultivate.

ganisation otfethine our
nationp ol iwti
ions l,
fpr re omg r
tahmemfler
still: that tnhvennew om. r -
rae6ll7,hties
state
us, being placed at the head of the move
surrection, declare the inhabitantds of villages proprietors ol
will take upon itself the remuneration aneratiethe popular governmen
the land they now cultivate,
ofs ttahtee lantdoowntoewrsa,
towards
funds
erganief the State.
the State of
fyths ethgaetntherealnfennw tends programme further
the abolition of all privileges of classes, andeutier
Liu tmteheotls e
classes of Polish society which have always
upon one and the same political level with those which havey
been privileged ones ; so that the new Polish society should
I consist of but one people of free and equal citizens. you
see that the fundamental ideas of the Polish movement are
entirely popular; that there remains nothing of nobiliary
conservatism in them ; their aim being abolition of classes
and cession of land to the peasants.
"The difference which exists between us, Russians and
Poles, with regard to the question about the agricultural
classes, arises from the difference of our social elements,
and from the -circumstances under which we are placed
The Russian movement is a popular, economical, social one;,
ours is a national one. In Russia the social movement will
develop political freedom; in Poland, social reorganisation
is only possible as a consequence of political emancipation
and recovery of our country.
f 66 Such is the ground upon which we hope that your
social
pass
t athe
friends will go arm in arm with us—that they will go as
those Russian warriors went, who sanctioned with their
mat
to tyr-bloeds the righteousness of our cause, and put a
sealour union in the name of our emancipation and the
Russian
cause.
"fie
second point, and you will Iperceive here
also that the alleged
difference of opinion as to the right of
free does not exist.
nations to dispose of themselves
We
were deprived
of political existence by violence - , , we never
recognised this violence 0 n we could not and we cannot recog-
nise it.
—onseque tl ,y we recognise neither the new fron-
tiers, nor the
liberty. There is h
s Governments founded on the ruins of our
one Poland, divided Poland for us; we know only
that which
consists of the union of Poles,
Lithuanians, and R
of them. ussinians, without predominance of any
"From this • point of view
of Poland in her ancient we tend towards the restoration
to the people bonndaries, leaving absolute free-
dom Lithuanians and &tempi, inhabiting within them, i.e., to the
n to remain united with Poland,
or to dispose of themselves
But now, in our preparatory according
ato their own will.
t
sacred duty to employ all efforcts
e$ we believe it to be our
and the Ukraine should go toge
tk in order that Lithuania
the popular rising should extend er with Poland, and that
at once over all parts of
our oppressed country.
" After having stated our point of view '
we repeat it here, openly, candidly,
without
our programme
Let us repeat once more that we entirely admit
arrtere pensde.
right to autonomy of the people „i„,ewit.,:tPoland, and
who have suffered together with her. To
re
we, under the yoke of our enemy, without cLueset
freedom of
of us that
disposing of ourselves, should abandon the union
which
exists even now, notwithstanding the forcible separati
on--
to request of us, when we recognise the right of anynation
to reconstitute herself in her boundaries, that We
should
desist from this right when applied to Poland would be to
request that we should recognise the forcible division, and
abandon the power which the union of the three
people
fused into a whole gives to the cause of our liberty,
" Having stated to you, as the representatives of free
livoiazt thought, the principles upon which we call our