The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-27 00:00:00

POLAND.

The following is a copy of the " Narrative of
Facts" which M. Voiekoff, the Marshal of the Mos-
cow Nobility, has been called upon to lay before the
Emperor, and which, it must be observed, is signed,
not by all the nobles studying at the University, but
only by those who were personally injured by the
soldiers or police in the disgraceful affair of the 24th
of October. The following is a translation of this
important document :
" On the 12th (24th October) the students of our
University were subjected to the most dreadful vio-
lence and insults from the police and gendarmerie.
Personally aggrieved by this we come forward to
your Excellency, as the representative of the no-
bility to which we have the honour to belong, to
explain the circumstances and to beg of you to lay
before the Emperor the unlawful conduct of his
police, and to make him acquainted with the facts
as they really happened. With this object we sub-
mit to your Excellency the following short narra-
tive, for the truth of which we pledge ourselves.
" The closing of the St. Petersburg University
was the first cause of the misunderstanding which
ended so tragically with the catastrophe of the
12th of October. It produced the turbulent scenes
of the 27th of September, which were followed by
the closing of the two first classes of the Juridical
Faculty. Afterwards a morn reasonable course of
proceeding was adopted, and a petition to the Em-
peror resolved upon, praying for the opening of the
St. Petersburg University and the alteration of
several of the harshest of the new regulations
which had caused great excitement among the
students. After long deliberations, the scheme of
a petition was approved by the students and by the
superior officials. The latter held out the hope that
it would be accepted through the influence of the
curator, who was absent at the time, and that the
high authorities would intercede with the Emperor
for the fulfilment of its prayer. Relying upon this,
the students ceased all agitation, and began to col-
lect signatures to the petition. Just then, Nicho-
las Vassilievitch Issakoff, the curator of the Moscow
educational district, arrived, and refused not only
to sign the petition, but even to read it. This re-
fusal caused renewed irritation among the students,
which they manifested in a thoughtless and abrupt
manner. On the night of the 11th a great number
were arrested, and among them many who had
taken no part in the meeting of that day. On the
morning of the 12th of October the students as-
sembled, as usual, at the university, when suddenly
the report was circulated that during the night
about 20 students had been arrested in their lodg-
ing and withent came. All were seri:mily grieved
by thi•! nrw., .I*na the, stitdontF: do,iring to know
the reason and all the particulars of the occurrence,
began, little by little, to collect in the courtyard of
the University, when each new-comer brought
fresh information about the event. There were
altogether about 400 present. They went to the
curator to beg that he would tell them the cause of
the arrests, but he refused to give any explanation
on the subject. While the students were standing,
deliberating, in the court-yard, not knowing what
steps to take, an order arrived from the General
Governor to send him a student named Gisemski.
Some of those present called out, Let us go with
him, and ascertain the fate of our comrades ;' when
the whole body, without reflecting on the conse-
quences, proceeded towards the General Gover-
nor's. This was very imprudent, but no one
thought that it would be looked upon as a demon-
stration.' Knowing the kind sentiments of the
General Governor towards them, which had been
manifested not only in words but also in deeds, and
remembering that only a few days before he had
prevented the police from molesting them on the
occasion of their visit to the tomb of Professor
Granoffsky, the students felt convinced that as long
as they conducted themselves peacefully and made
no noise or disturbance, the police would not inter-
fere with them, they resolved, therefore, to go to the
General Governor's and to proceed there in the most
orderly manner. No sooner had they left the court-
yard of the University than the police and gen-
darmerie, who had been concealed in the Excise-
house, followed them. The students walked with all
possible order up the Makhovaia and the Iverskaia,

and none of the authorities, either of the University
or of the city, asked them to disperse; nor did the
police attempt to impede their progress. At last they
reached the Iverskai square and stopped before the
house of the General Governor. Four students were
sent in to inquire the reason of their comrades hav-
ing been a.rrested. While these four were waiting
to see the General Governor. the police and gen-
darmerie, wif 0 had been walking behind, came on
to thesquare aid proceeded to surround the students
on three sides. They then made a movement to cut
them off from the General Governor's. Thestudents,
who until now had remained perfectly quiet in front
of the house, awaiting the return of their deputies,
perceived that they were b. ing hemmed in. Un-
willing to be separated from their comrades, who
as they supposed were laying their petition before
the General Governor, they resolved not to suffer
this, and said so to the officer commanding the
gendarmerie, who was trying to force his way be-
tween them and the building. The officer, not wish-
ing to be subjected to personal inconvenience,* now
that the gendarmerie were about to fall upon
the students, retreated a few paces, and then
cried out " Seize them, beat them." Upon
this :signal the gendarmerie and police attacked the
etudeots and proceed to maltreat and arrest them.
A great disturbance ensued. Some of the students
ran awe some submitted ; the remainder; irritated
by h
of the police, who had not once
t ab)r-n,
ality
given them notice to disperse, resisted the onslaught
Now came for\-vard infantry and cavalry, who
hitherto had been concealed in the Tverskoi police-
station ; and, at the whistle of the khazalst, porters
and peasants, who had been told beforehand what
to de, rushed out of the courtyards, and with oaths
and shouts, fell upon the fugitives. The students
were now hunted through all the streets of the city.
Wherever a student's cap was seen the police and
gendarmerie fell upon their unhappy victims and
illtreated them in the most inhuman manner. The
gendarmerie pursued them at full gallop, seized
them by the collar, or by the hair of the head, and,
continuing to gallop, dragged them after them, with
their legs and feet beating on the stones. The re-
port was circulated among the people that the
g,aihst the Emperor and.
wanted to kill the General Governor.
students had revolted a

" ' What? against the Emperor !" cried the people.
We will tear them to pieces.' _ _

" A report was also spread that the students
wished to re-establish serfdom ; and many were
assured that they were Poles who had risen against
the Emperor; and pursued them on that account-
At last the disturbance was at an end; and the,
students, either scattered or surrounded on all sides
by the police and gendarmerie, many of them
wounded, were dragged to the Tverskoi police-
station. There was not room enough inside for
the prisoners, whose number amount( d to 400.
They were accordingly driven into the courtyard
and there surrounded by police and gendarmerie,
who were afterwards replaced by infantry and a,
squadron of cavalry. Then only were seen the traces.
of the energetic conduct of the police, resorted to
without any cause on the part of the students.
Beaten, with torn clothes, there they stood, and
the groans were heard of those who were lying
wounded. Besides the students who were taken in
front of the General Governor's house, besides those
who were caught in the streets and on the Boule-
vards, many persons had been arrested who did not
belong to the University at all, and some of these
had even received wounds. Although many of the
students were released a few days afterwards,
several dozens are still in the police-house.
" In terminating our narrative of the lamentable
events of the 12th (24th) October, we humbly beg
your Excellence to lay before the Emperor this our
true statement of facts, signed by 20 students be-
longing to the nobility of Moscow, who on that day
suffered insults from the police."

f Inspectors or superintendents of house porters.

COUNTRY MABEL A )S.

- iL

NEWARK—DEc. 24.
White wheat, new, 60s to 63s Barley, gTinding 29s to 318
Red do. 55s to 51s Oats, old, .. oos to 354
Old white 6oa to 63s New do 23, to 27s
Red do. 46s to 56s i Beans. 45s to 475,
Barley, malting.— 328.t0 39s ) Beans, new.. , 44s to —a
Peas, 48s to 545.