XXVI. 1830. But CHAP. front of Praga, and intrenchments begun around Warsaw, on the left bank of the Vistula, which proved of the utmost service in the last extremity of the nation. though doing his utmost to augment the regular force, the dictator still declined all offers to form detached 1 Ann. Hist. corps of volunteers, under the orders of partisan leaders, 665; Rom, deeming the hazard of that species of force greater, in the excited state of the country, than any advantage that might be expected from it.1 xiii. 664, Solt. i. 157, 165. 33. proclamation, and vast preparations Dec. 31. The Poles, however, had need of all their efforts and Menacing all their enthusiasm, for the forces which the Czar was accumulating against them were immense. An army of 110,000 men had already been collected in Lithuania, of the Czar, stationed in echelon along the road from St Petersburg to Warsaw. An animated proclamation, menacing to the Poles, was addressed by the Emperor to the Russian nation, in which he called on them to aid him in crushing their ancient enemies the Poles, who had made no other return for all the kindness they had received from Russia but treachery and treason.* Count Diebitch was appointed generalissimo, with the command, at the same time, of the governments of Grodno, Wilna, Minsk, Podolia, Volhynia, and Bialystok, which were all declared in a state . "Une infame trahison a ébranlé le royaume de Pologne uni à la Russie, des hommes malintentionnés qui n'ont pas discerné les bienfaits du restaurateur de leur patrie, le magnanime Empereur Alexandre d'éternelle mémoire, et qui, jouissant sous la protection des lois octroyées, du fruit de sa bienveillance, ourdirent en secret des intrigues pour renverser l'ordre qu'il avait établi, et choisirent le 29 Novembre pour commencer l'accomplissement de leurs desseins par la rébellion. Le peuple Polonais, qui, après tant d'infortunes, jouissait de la paix et du bien-être à l'ombre de notre puissance, se précipite de nouveau dans l'abîme de la révolte et des calamités, et un ramas d'êtres crédules, quoique déjà saisis d'effroi à la pensée du châtiment qui les attend, osent rêver quelques instans la victoire, et nous proposer des conditions, à nous, leur maître légitime. Russes! vous savez que nous les repoussons avec indignation. Vos cœurs, brûlant de zèle pour les intérêts du trône, comprennent tout ce que le nôtre éprouve. A la première nouvelle de trahison, votre réponse fut un serment répété d'inébranlable fidelité, et dans ce moment nous ne voyons qu'un mouvement dans toute l'étendue de notre vaste empire, dans le cœur de chacun vit un seul sentiment, le vœu de ne redouter aucun effort pour l'honneur de son empereur, pour l'inviolabilité de l'empire, et d'y sacrifier sa fortune et même sa vie. NICHOLAS. Dec. 24, 1830.”—Ann. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 179. Doc. Hist. de Partie. XXVI. 1830. of war; and a few days after, Diebitch, who added the CHAP. proud title of Sabalkansky to his name, set out for the army, attended by a numerous and magnificent staff, in the full confidence that to the surname of Passer of the Balkan he would soon add that of Conqueror of Warsaw. The ancient and unforgotten animosity of the Russians against the Poles appeared in the strongest manner on this occasion. One only feeling existed in the whole nation, which was, that they must strain every nerve to crush the traitors; and great as was the enthusiasm of the Poles to regain their independence, it was equalled by the ardour of the Muscovites to retain them in xiii. 666. subjection.1 1 Ann. Hist. 34. the Polish Before throwing away the scabbard, the Polish Diet, on January 10, 1831, addressed a manifesto to the Manifesto of other nations of Europe. It was stated in that noble Diet." document: "The world knows too well the infamous machinations, the vile calumnies, the open violence and secret treasons which have accompanied the three dismemberments of ancient Poland. History, of which they have become the property, has stigmatised them as political crimes of the deepest dye. The solemn grief which that violence has spread through the whole country, has caused the feelings of nationality to be preserved without interruption. The Polish standard has never ceased to wave at the head of the Polish legions; and in their military emigration, the Poles, transporting from country to country their household gods, have never ceased to cry aloud against this violation; and yielding to the noble illusion, which, like every noble thought, has not been deceived, they trusted that, in combating for the cause of liberty, they were combating also for their own. country. 35. "That country has risen from its ashes, and, though restrained within narrow limits, Poland has received from Continued. the hero of the last age its language, its rights, its liberties,-gifts in themselves precious, but rendered doubly so XXVI. 1830. CHAP. by the hopes with which they were accompanied. From that moment his cause has become ours, our blood become his inheritance; and when our allies, and Heaven itself, seemed to have abandoned him, the Poles shared the disasters of the hero; and the fall together of a great man and an unfortunate nation extorted the involuntary esteem of the conquerors themselves. That sentiment produced a deep impression; the sovereigns of Europe, in a moment of danger, promised to the world a durable peace; and the Congress of Vienna in some sort softened the evils of our unhappy country. A nationality and entire freedom of internal commerce were guaranteed to all parts of ancient Poland, and that portion of it which the strife of Europe had left independent, though mutilated on three sides, received the name of a kingdom, and was put under the guardianship of the Emperor Alexander, with a constitutional charter and the hope of future extension. In performance of these stipulations he gave a liberal constitution to the kingdom, and held out to the Poles under his immediate government the hope of being ere long reunited to their severed brethren. These were not gratuitous promises: he had contracted anterior obligations to us, and we, on our side, had made corresponding sacrifices. In proclaiming himself King of Poland, the Emperor of Russia was only faithful to his promises. 36. "But the hopes inspired by these circumstances proved Continued. as short-lived as they were fallacious. The Poles were ere long convinced, by dear-bought experience, that the vain title of Poland, given to the kingdom by the Emperor of Russia, was nothing but a lure thrown out to their brothers, and an offensive arm against the other states. They saw that, under cover of the sacred names of liberty and independence, he was resolved to reduce the nation to the lowest point of degradation and servitude. The measures pursued in regard to the army first revealed this infamous design. Punishments the XXVI. 1830. most excruciating, pains the most degrading, were, under CHAP. pretence of keeping up military discipline, inflicted, not for faults of commission, but mere omission. The arbitrary disposition of the commander-in-chief, his absolute control over the courts-martial, soon rendered him the absolute master of the life and honour of every soldier. Numbers in every grade have sent in their resignations, and committed suicide in despair at the degrading punishments to which they had been subjected. The deliberative assembly, from which so much was expected, has remedied none of these evils, it has rather aggravated them; for it has brought, in a sensible form, the reality of servitude home to the nation. The liberty of the press, the publication of debates, was tolerated only so long as they resounded with strains of adulation; but the moment that the real discussion of affairs commenced, the most rigid censorship of the press was introduced, and after the sittings of the Diet closed, they prosecuted the members of it for the opinions they had expressed in it. "The union, on one head, of the crown of the Autocrat and of the constitutional King of Poland, is one of those Continued. political monstrosities which could not by possibility long endure. Every one foresaw that the kingdom of Poland must be to Russia the germ of liberal institutions, or itself perish under the iron hand of its despot. That question. was soon resolved. If Alexander ever entertained the idea of reconciling the extent of his despotic power with the popularity of liberal institutions amongst us, it was but for a moment. He soon showed by his acts that the moment he discovered that liberty would not become the blind instrument of slavery, he was to be its most violent persecutor. That system was soon put in execution. Public instruction was first corrupted; it was made the mere instrument of despotism: an entire palatinate was next deprived of its representatives in the council,-the Chambers of the power of voting on the budget; new taxes were imposed without their authority: monopolies 37. XXVI. 1830. CHAP. destructive of industry were created; and the treasury became a mere fountain of corruption, from whence, in lieu of the retrenchment which the nation had so often solicited, pensions and gratuities were distributed with the most scandalous profusion amongst the supporters of Government. Calumny and espionage soon invaded the privacy and destroyed the happiness of domestic life; the ancient hospitality of the Poles was converted into a snare for innocence. Individual liberty, so solemnly guaranteed, was every day violated; the prisons were filled, and courts-martial, proceeding to take cognisance of civil offences, inflicted infamous and degrading punishments on citizens whose only fault was to have endeavoured to stem the torrent of corruption which overspread the country. "In the ancient provinces of Poland now incorporated Concluded. With Russia, matters have been still worse. Not only 38. have they not been incorporated with Poland, in violation of the promise to that effect made by the Emperor Alexander to the Congress of Vienna, but, on the contrary, everything has been systematically done which could eradicate in them any sentiment or recollection of nationality. The youths at school have been in an especial manner the object of persecution. All who were suspected of a leaning towards liberal or patriotic sentiments were torn from their mothers' arms, and sent off to Siberia, or compelled to enter the army as private soldiers, though belonging to the first families in the country. In all administrative or public acts the Polish language was suppressed, as well as in the common schools; imperial ukases annihilated alike the Polish 1 Manifesto rights and tribunals; the abuses of administration reduced des Peuple the landed proprietors to despair. Since the accession of the Emperor Nicholas, all these evils have rapidly increased, and intolerance, coming to the aid of despotism, has left nothing undone to extirpate the Catholic worship, and force the Greek ritual in its stead."1 Polonais, Jan. 10, 1830; Ann. Hist. xiii. 180, 182; Doc. Hist. |