The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-11 00:00:00

INIARCH 11, 1846.

PRICE SD.

THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

The subjoined extracts from the German and Paris papers
furnish the latest intelligence respecting this unfortunate
affair. The following is the official account furnished to the
Austrian Government by the Military Governor of Tarnow,
in Galicia:—
" TARNOW, FEB. 22.—The news of an approaching attack upon
Our town, and of a threatened revolution, having been widely ru-
moured, we closed ourselves up in our small fortress on the Pith, as
If we had been in the midst of war, and on the 18th we received a
small reinforcement of two squadrons of cavalry, sent us by the Com-
mander-in. Chief of our troops,whom the urgency of the circumstances
induced to take the step. At length certain information was received
that some events of importance were to take place in the coarse of
the night of the 18th. We were informed that the first and prin-
cipal attack was to be made upon Tarnow, and that this was to be
the central point of the general insurrection which was to break
out throughout the country. We were told that the most ter-
rible destruction was to be our fate, that assassins were already
posted by the side of every German and of every Pole who
did not Join in the revolution. It was by a blessing of Providence
that we were made aware of the danger twenty-four hours before

the revolt was to break out, and we gained at least the time to pre-
pare our feeble military forces, consisting of two battalions of in-
fantry and three squadrons of cavalry. All the preparations on the
part of the insurgents were, as has since been proved, perfectly or-
gan'sed, and they had shown much judgment in the choice of their
posts, their places of meeting, and attack. They were all provided
with the most formidable arms. One only of the most unfortunate
preparations for the great struggle was left to the last moment, and
its success was made to depend on the success of the fanatics and
the impression of the moment. In the night of the 18th to the 19th
the communes were to be called upon to join in the movement, and
they were to be forced into it by violence if they did not do so
willingly. During the whole of the 18th deputations from the neigh-
bouring and distant communes, which the insurgents had already be-
gun to prepare for the carnage, arrived at the offices of the magistracy,
and in the greatest terror announced the dreadful events with which
we were threatened, and while they declared their attachment to the
Government, and their aversion to the cause of the insurgents, tivy
asked what they were to do. The following answer was given to
all :—" Join in no rising. It is treason against the State, and against
the Emperor, whose subjects you are. Give me notice of what hap-
pens in your neighbourhood. It is your most sacred duty, and you
will be recompensed for it. If attempts should be made to oblige you
to join in treason by force of arms, you will here find a refuge, where
you can rally and fight for the good cause. If arms should be given
to you to fight against us, bring them here." In point of fact, several
deputations had already brought in several functionaries, as persons
who had attempted to make them join in the insurrection. At the
time that these deputations were coming to us, and before many o:
them had time to return to their homes, the carnage commenced in
great number of villages. When the communes assembled under
the orders of their chiefs, and were armed with forks, pikes, cutlasses,
and other instruments of carnage, secretly prepared by the ir.eur-
gents, and were preparing to march upon Tarnow, they turned their
arms ageinst those who had given them, and now refused to follow
the leaders. The consequence was a succession of bloody affairs at
s 4 the _ places of meeting. Whilst we • passed .the ..night of the
18th to- tlectothlti --etnee-of eltstraerssespezmogglishaty
we were no longer alarmed that we should have thepeasantry against-
us, we could not place much dependence upon them, and we were
threatened by the insurgents, who were superior in force to us), and
disturbed by continual false alarms, we were greatly surprised by the
arrival of peasant§ from the neighbourhood of the town, bringing
along with them, as prisoners, several gentlemen, inspectors, clergy
men, and others, all of whom they placed in the hands of the autho-
rities, together with a large quantity of arms, which thby had sexed.
The peasantry deserve well at our hands for this good work. The
prisoners belonged principally to the high mobility, and a great num-
ber of the chiefs and of the inferior adherents were brought before us
bound hand and foot, having been reduced into that state by their
own adherents. The spectacle was a terrible one, but still more ter-
rible was the lesson which it gave, and which proves that treason
carries along with it its own punishment, and that it is criminal to
turn the people from the path of justice and to imbue them with com-
munism in place of morality and religion. The result was evident from
the very commencement. We had only to tell the peasants who pre-
sented themselves with prisoners how far they were to go, to what
point their efforts in the cause were to extend, and where they were to
stop. These advices, it is true, were well received, but already the
outrageous fury which had taken possession of them proved to what
point the artificial demoralization of the people had reached ; for
from the moment when blood was spilt all their bad passions broke
loose, and nothing could stop the torrent. Those who succeeded in
escaping at the time of the first combats, began to take flight, but on
all hands they met with bodies of insurgents who fell upon them the
moment they attempted to force a passage. All bonds were broken.
The peasants soon constituted themselves judges . and executioners,
and, carried away by the excitement and fury, they regarded all pro-
prietors as joining in the insurrection, and as being, therefore, liable'
to their jurisdiction. Deprived of all means of putting a stop to this
outbreak, for the proclamations issued for the purpose of re-calling
the peopleto order made no impression—and it being impossible to
sendtroopi out ofthe town, because in a great part of the environs
isolated bands of the insurgents were endeavouring to force the pas-1
sages leading to the town, and which were defended by the pea-
santry—the adherents of the revolution in the city were only wait-
ing for an attack from without to raise the standard of rebellion,
which they could aot do till after the departure of the troops. Tire
small body of troops could not, therefore, be diminished, for after all
the city was the principal place to be defended, and its importance
was felt ho Mach by the ihsnrgents, that all their efforts were directed
to its capture, It is _possible that many victims have fallen, of
whom the law could not have got hold, and others who were entirely
innocent; but this is the terrible result, of the events which the
senseless instigators of the revolt have brought about. The dreadful
scenes which took place cannot be thought of without horror, for the
number of dead already brought here amounts to 98. Our hospitals
are filled, and the prisons, in which we have placed all the prisoners
whom the peasants brought in alive, are filled to overflowing. It
was not till yesterday that we were able to take steps to put an end
to the ferocious proceedings and pillage of the peasantry.
"We have received notice from Bochnia, that during the night
before last the insurgents of the eastern circle of the Bochnia were
about to march upon Tarnow. It appears, in fact, that a movement
has taken place in that quarter, for yesterday some peasants from
Bochnia arrived here with prisoners, of whom many were wounded."
The Frankfort Journal publishes the following letter,
dated Podgorze, the 27th ult.:—
" Yesterday, in the afternoon, Major-General Colin left Wadovicz,
at the head of five companies of the regiment of infantry of Schnneh-
ling, a batalliou of the regiment of Furstenwarlher, a squadron of
light horse of the regiment of the Emperor Ferdinand, and half a
battery of artillery. After sleeping at Isdebnik, he resumed his
march on the next day, so as to arrive at Podgorze about six o'clock
in the evening. The insurgents had posted themselves on the first-
floors of the houses and barracks, and opened a fire on the assailants.
After a short resistance, however, they retreated across the bridge
into Cracow, under a murderous fire of grape shot. An instant
afterwards- General Colin was attacked on the opposite side by a
baud, "which had sallied from Cracow In the direction of Wieliczka.
The Austrians rushed upon that band, killed several, took eighty-
nine prisoners, and routed the remainder. The trocps had only one
killed, the sub-lieutenant Sabranaky, of the regiment of Schmehling,
and seven wounded. To-morrow we expect a battalion of the regi-
ment of La.ad.wehr of Elohenegg, two other companies of &Minh-
ling, and a second squadron of the light hots* of tile Emperor Ferdi-
nand. We have no accounts of the insurrection at Wieliczka; we
only know that Lieutenant-Colonel Benedekt. who placed himself at
the head of the loyal peasantry. defeated with considerable loss a
party of Cracovian insurgents who had advanced beyond that
town."
Letters from Berlin of the 3d instant state that General
de Brandenbourg, the commandant of the Prussian troops in
Silesia, has received orders not to attack the insurgents at
Cracow, excepting in the event of the Austrian troops not
succeeding in putting down the insurrection.
" Bunten, Masten I.—fly the railway train from Upper Silesia,
which arrived here yesterday, we have received accounts from Cra-
cow direct. The insurgents have demolished the house of the Rus-
sian chamberlain, de Poleel. Several men of rank, and, among
others, Professor W—ski, left Cracow, under the pretext of serv-
ing the revolution in foreign countries, and have taken refuge in
Prussia. Tire provisional Government has therefore determined not
to allow any others to leave Cracow. The town is divided into eleven
districts, administered by special commissioners. The new Govern-
ment has already struck off some coin, and issued paper money. It
has carried away the rich treasures which were in the cathedral.
General Rohl is in command of the troops on the frontier, and it is
said that the insurgents have been already summoned to surrender.
It is thought that the Prussian troops will act in conjunction with
the troops of the other protecting powers."
Another letter of the same date says :
Since the residents of the protecting powers left the town and
the territory of Cracow the place has been entirely in the hands of
the insurgents. It is said that there has already beeu an engage-
ment at Gdow, in Galicia, between theinsurgents and the Austrians,
in which the latter were defeated. Some scenes of carnage took place
at Cracow on the occasion of the insurrection. A commissary of
police, employed to ;meet a clergyman, was cut to pieces with
scythes. The Prussian troops are posted along the frontier in the
circles of Benthem and Pless. No magazines have been established,
and the army is reduced to the resources of that poor and over-popn-
hated country. The number of Prussian troops in the district is
about 5,000, but numerous reserves are collected here, which will be
forwarded in cue of need. Accounts from Upper Silesia state that
the insurgents have set fire to the town of Nicolai, and that the do-
mains of the nobility have been everywhere pillaged and destroyed.
The insurrection in that quarter is spreading rapidly. Count Potekt
arrived here from Paris within the last few days. The head of the
police refused to vise his passport, but he proceeded without one. lie
was, however, arrested at Glenitz.
" Letters from Upper Silesia, of the 28th of February, state that
the AUStrittriS have quitted Podgorze and retired to Wadowoze, fol-
lowed by the insurgents, who. it is said, have taken Williezka, and
have advanced as far as Guloff, within a league of Bochnia. General
Collin was waiting for reinforcements. It is reported at Cracow that
the Archduke Ferdinand did not feel himself in surety in Lembourg,
and that the insurrection now extended to the frontiers of Russia."
" Paris, March 7.
" The insurrection which has broken out so generally and so un-
expectedly in the Polish provinces of Prussia, Russia, and Austria,
has produced a sensation among the Polish refugees in France which
is difficult to describe. The provisional Government at Cracow has
sent word to the Polish deputation in Paris, which consists of refu-
gee delegates from all the provinces, that it considers itself merely as
its representative, and that it is ready to give up the manag2ngeeenst
in
affairs to it, as soon as called upon to do so. The Ib'ol
Paris arc consequently taking effectual steps to
eatiedrtrnientiedrslico. reluftiptoryssmibele:
Several have already left Paris for Germany,
ernes
to make their way into Poland, and among thdeoseSt
during
nsgom thee foot.
general officers who distinguished themselves in
insurrection.
s• THILBB O'CLOCK. —A meeting of the members of the
Prince Polis
Society of May 3, of which held
Czartoryski is president, was
to-day at the hotel Lambert, the Prince's residence n
as. The P
Poland.
rince is
o red by a large portion of the Polish natio King of
7t•hnesiSdoeciety consists entirely of refugees, and has upwards of 1,000
subscribed members. Three hundred attended the meeting. They
declared to the Prince that they were ready to Serve Under his orders,
and to recognise his authority as king, but that in the present cir-
cumstances they thought it best net to raise that question, but to
take means for uniting; in their exertions in the cause of their coun-
try. The Prince replied that he had never had any pretensions to
the throne of Poland."

THE LATE BRUTAL TREATMENT OF A POLICEMAN
AT DEPITORD.—Monday afternoon a very lengthened inquiry took
place before Mr. Payne, the City coroner, at Guy's Hospital, touching
the death of James Haste, police-constable 334 R, who wits cruelly
maltreated by several P
üblic-house on the morning of Saturday, the 21st
adjacent to the gate of the Dept-
ult., near the Rodney p,
ford dockyard. Four men have been taken into custody for the of-
fence, and have undergone an examination at Greenwich Police-court,
but stand remanded for a fortnight, the particulars of which we pub-
lished at the time. The same witnesses were examined before the
coroner, and nothing fresh was adduced, except the evidence of the sur-
geon who attended the deceased, and made a postmortem examination.
The evidence was as follows :—My name is Frederick Collings, and I
am dresser to Mr. Cooper. Early on the morning of Saturday, the
21st ult., the deceased, James Hastie, was brought into the hospital
in a state of collapse, arising from lacerated wounds on the face and
forehead. There was a severe cut over the right brow, and a
compound fracture of the skull. I moved a piece of the bone
of the nose, which wee torn away. The left eye was drawn
into the wound. There was a severe wound on the
right side of the face, supposed to he incised. The teeth were
loosened. aged several were knocked out. The compound fracture
was near 1414 e right eye, which was entirely smashed. Ile went on
favourably for a day or two, when he wll3 seized with epileptic Ills
which brought on vomiting. Medicine was prescribed for him, but
hemorrhage ensued in the wound, and he never rallied after, but
died about half-past 4 o'clock on Saturday morning last, I have
since made a post mortem examination, and found the frontal bone
fractured, a triangular piece extending an Inch across the forehead.
The skull was much depressed, as also was the surface of the brain ;
under the former a quantity of blood was discovered, which was
evidently produced by the fracture. Death was caused by the frac-
ture of the apex of the skull. There was also a laceration of the
membrane of theebrain, which would cause death. lie (the deceased)
was partially sensible up to Friday, but not long together, as he fre-
quently had fits. I considered that he was not fit to undergo an
examination last Wednesday, when Mr. Cottingham attended, nor
had he been since. The inquiry had then lasted six hours, when the
Coroner informed the jury that the police wished an adjournment, to
give them time to make further inquiries; he should, therefore, ad-
journ until Monday, the 23d instant.
HIGHWAY ROBBERY.—On Saturday evening, about
half-past aeven o'clock, as Mr. Giles Hall, of Corston, was on the
road between Keynsham station and Bridge House public-house, on
the Gloucester hill, lie wan met by a man dressed in a smock frock,
who knocked him down with an iron bar. On his getting up twe
other ruffians came to the spot, and again threw hint down. They
then rifled his pockets, and took from him a pinchbeck watch, a gold
key, and a metal seal, inscribed " Peter Dirkoven. They also rob-
bed him of a bag containing 15e. Mr. Hall is considerably advanced
in years, and the age of the sufferer renders the offence the more
unmanly. In their hurry to escape the thieves left behind themthe
iron bar, which proved to be a formidable instrument, sharpened at
the end.—Bath Gazette.
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