The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-10 00:00:00

RUSSIAN POLAND.

A letter from Warsaw, dated Sept. 30, says :
Things are going badly here, and will go badly.
The new Council of State meets in ordinary session
for the first time to-morrow ; but it is a sham.
The elections for the arrondissemental and muni-
cipal councils are going on, and everywhere the
choice is unanimous. The more active members
of the late Agricultural Society, leading Jews,
patriotic priests, with a few peasants, are those
chosen as members. But the great want on the part
of the Poles, as it appears to me, is a " settled pro-
gramme," printed and published. For want of this
there is no unity of action here—no sympathy
abroad. The Italians have " Italia unity" as their
watchword; they are understood and supported.
The Hungarians have a return to the Pragmatic
Sanction as the base of their operations, and they
are understood and felt to be in the right. But
people naturally ask, what do the Poles want ? It
is pretty in theory to say, "We wish for the Poland
of the past ;" but the Poland of the past was dif-
ferent in extent and composition under every one
of its Sovereigns. This demand, therefore, is not a
tangible one. Their strongest ground would be the
Treaty of Vienna ; but this even the moderate party
repudiate and ignore. Yet they substitute no legal
demand, nothing based on treaties or guaranteed
constitutions for it, The result is action on the
part of the ultra party, in the shape of demonstra-
tions against individual Germans, and a mild form
of terrorism, whereby shops are closed through fear
on certain days which are proclaimed as commemo-
rations, and collections enforced for an endless mul-
tiplication of services in the churches.

Count Lambert, the new Viceroy, makes no
progress; the Government have no more hold on
the country than they had four or five months ago.
This aggravates them, and it is said that martial
law, or something very like it, is to be proclaimed
in a few days, at the furthest. The fact of the
matter is, the Russians have not the faintest
idea of popular representation. Anything like an
expression of popular wish is a thing to be re-
sented and punished by the Government. It is
regarded as an insult to the Emperor. A thing
occurred the other day at Ostrolenka which speaks
volumes. The day was appointed for the election.
The burgomaster was ready with all the parapher-
nalia of election. The electors came in crowds.
Suddenly, the commandant of the troops made his
appearance at the head of his forces, seized the poll-
ing books and voting urns, sent them under seal to
Warsaw, thinking he had discovered a conspiracy,
and finally dispersed the electors to their homes,
whence they came by the Emperor's command to
vote ! The Polish agitation has reached its chronic
state. At first it was acute, spasmodic ; now it has
settled down into a low kind of feverishness, far
worse for the social body than its former stage. It
has only been by great efforts that the moderate
party have induced the more advanced to consent
to any elections at all. They wished to repudiate
the whole thing—Council of State, departmental,
arrondissemental, and municipal councils, not to
-vote, not to allow themselves to be voted for. In
fact, the nation wants a leader and counsellor.

Rumours reach us of things being in a terrible
state in Russia, and even the Russians themselves
admit it. A superior officer not long since said," I
really do not know whether I shall get anything at
all from my estates this year." How deep the evil
may extend I am not qualified to say.