The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-30 00:00:00

RUSSIA AND POLAND.

The news of the Grand Duke Constantine's ap-
pointment as Viceroy of Poland, will probably take
the Russians less by surprise than the Poles. It is
well known at St. Petersburg that the Grand Duke
is ambitious, and that he has long been looking for-
ward to the important and difficult post which he
is now about to occupy. The innumerable reforms

.n the administration of the Admiralty Department

commenced under the Grand Duke's inspection
were quite insufficient to absorb the energy of a

Prince who, at one time, appears to have believed
that he was born to Imperial command, and who,

since the accession of the present Emperor,bas been
seeking to distinguish himself in every possible
manner. Fortunately, there are not two roads to

political distinction in the Russia of the present

No ow?, from the Emper9r.:o4ll.o4t brgthrx,
downward, couTd.contrive to form even.a respect-
able clique of supporters by favouring, or appearing
to favour, retrograde notions. What used to be

. _
called the " Old Russian party"—apparently be-
cause a number of Old Russians belonged to it,
and certainly not because it represented any ancient
national principle—has, since the emancipation of

,he serfs, ceased to exist, and has now no basis on

which to reconstitute itself. The German b'ireau-

cratic party, after pretending for a long series of
years that Russia was to be civilized through its
influence, is still th© German bureaucratic party,

impeding all real progress by its persistent habits
of routine, while the leaders of the Constitutional
movement are found among the chiefs of the most
ancient and influential families in the Empire. If
the " Old Russian party" included among its mys-
terious tenets a belief in the effieacacy of select

conspiracies for the promotion of dynastic reforms,
it is a remarkable, and certainly a very gratifying
faet that the descendants of the most trenchant of all

Russian reformers are found in the foremost ranks
of those nobles who at Moscow, at St. Petersburg,

at Toula, and at Tver assure Alexander 11. that he
can save only his empire from dissolution by granting
a constitution without delay. To read a formal
well-considered statement of grievances in an as-

sembly open to all the world, to sign it, to take the
opinion of the members upon it, with a view of for-
warding it, if generally approved, to the Emperor
—this at least is a civilised mode of protest, and
contrasts favourably with the more Oriental form
which has been resorted to so many times in Russia
during the last 120 years, and which was fully in
vogue at the beginning of the present century.
Perhaps also this new mode of protest may lead to
the desired result. At all events, it had already
had the effect of dispelling any last illusion that
may have existed as to the possibility of forming en
anti-constitutional party among the high aristocracy
of the country. It has made liberal ideas more than
ever the fashion, and it is now more than ever im-
possibla for a Grand Duke to achieve a political
position otherwise than by declaring (or at least
hinting) himself in favour of far greater reforms
than any that have yet been taken in hand.
Without wishing to offend or to pay undue com-
pliments to either of those Imperial liberals, we may
remark that many points of similarity could be
pointed out between the Grand Duke Constantine
and Prince Napoleon, there being, however, this
difference in favour of the Grand Duke, that he has
hitherto behaved with great discretion and has given
his best support to the policy adopted by the head
of his family, and to the one really important reform
which Alexander 11. is endeavouring to carry out.

In smaller matters, but which more immediately
concerns himself, the Grand Duke Constantine has
distinguished himself by establishing a very useful
and interesting journal for the navy, which from the
beginning of its four years' existence has been re-
markable for the liberality of its tone, and by the
assiduity with which he has attended the meetings
of the Geographical Society of St. Petersburg, of
which his Imperial Highness is president. More-
over, when some months since there was a question
of dissolving the St. Petersburg Society of Political
Economy, on the ingenuous pretext that it occupied
itself with subjects connected with the conduct of
Government, the Grand Duke interposed and saved
the life of the association by the assurance he gave
that all political questions brought forward at the
periodical meetings were discussed in an abstract
manner, and with the greatest possible calmness
and propriety. He had often been present at these
meetings, and, after the above little difficulty, at-

:ended them more regularly than ever.
In the absence of any recognised political bodies

(apart from the " assemblies of the nobility," o
which the importance has only just been dis-
covered), the scientific societies of Russia offer the
only field in which any direct personal influence on
opinion can be exercised. In two of the societies
the Grand Duke Constantine has made himself a
really creditable position, and that some good effect
is experienced from his countenance, participation,
and general support may be inferred from the fact
that he was solicited at the beginning of this
year to assume the Presidency of the International
Association for obtaining a uniform decimal system
of measures, weights, and coins.
From presiding over associations, however, to
-governing a kingdom is a great step, especially when
the kingdom to be governed is Poland, and the
Prince appointed to govern it is the son of Nicholas.
The Grand Duke Constantine will now have to give
evidence of the possession of such qualities as he
has never before been called upon to exhibit, and he
will, moreover, have to take with him to Warsaw
some real concessions, in the absence of which he
will find the position of Viceroy as untenable for
him as it proved to be for Gortschakoff, for Souk-
hozanet, for Lambert, and for Luders. The
Emperor's brother cannot proceed to assume the
reins of government in Poland with the view, or,
rather, with the foreknowledge, that he is going to
make himself unpopular there. Indeed, the fact of
his being accompanied by the Marquis Wielopolski
may in itself be regarded as a sign that he will
arrive there to confer benefits, and that he will
begin his rule by promulgating some such reforms
as were recommended by the Marquis in the memoir
which he presented to the Emperor at St. Peters-
burg last autumn, and of which one of the principal
was understood to be the re-establishment of the
Polish Universities, or, at least, of superior academies,
capable of supplying their place. Whatever maysto
be thought of the Russian mode of dispersing un-
armed crowds, there cannot be two opinions as
the system of reducing a nation to subjection by
cutting off its intellectual supplies. Any amount
of occasional brutality, in the presence even of the
slightest symptoms of resistance, is better than
these persistent attempts to destroy the life of a
nation by the roots.
But the much desired educational reform is only
one out of a large number which a really well-
meaning Viceroy, aided by such an adlatus as M.
Wielopoiski, will be able to introduce. There need
be no difficulty in finding out where to begin, for
the Poles are in want simply of everything. There
are many kinds of food which are good for a starving
of reform which would be man, and many kinds
of immense benefit to the Poles. At present they
have no superior schools, no political representation,
and not only no liberty of the press, but not even
liberty to publish one word in their journals on the