POLAND. 



Y43 



the European Powers generally as conclusive, 

 and it is on the ground of the violation of 

 them by Kussia that some of these Powers 

 at present justify their diplomatic interference. 

 In every subsequent attempt to settle the Polish 

 question diplomatically, the provisions of the 

 Congress of Vienna must necessarily have a 

 very considerable, if not decisive, influence, 

 and an acquaintance with them is indispen- 

 sable to understand the negotiations to which 

 this question will yet undoubtedly give rise. 

 The following is a translation of the Article 

 of the Treaty of Vienna (art. i.) relating to 

 Poland : 



" The Duchy of Warsaw, with the exception 

 of the provinces and districts, otherwise dis- 

 posed of in the following articles, is reunited 

 with the Kingdom of Poland. It shall be irrev- 

 ocably connected with that empire by its Con- 

 stitution, to be possessed by his Majesty the 

 Emperor of all the Kussias, his heirs and suc- 

 cessors, in perpetuity. His Imperial Majesty 

 reserves to himself the right to give to this 

 state, enjoying a distinct administration, such 

 interior extension as he shall judge proper. He 

 will, in addition to his other titles, assume that 

 of Czar, King of Poland, in conformity with 

 the protocol, used and hallowed by the titles 

 attached to his other possessions. 



"The Poles who are respectively subjects of 

 Kussia, Austria and Prussia, shall obtain a rep- 

 resentation and national institutions regulated 

 according to that mode of political existence 

 which each of the Governments to which they 

 belong, shall deem useful and proper to grant." 



The Constitution which the Emperor Alex- 

 ander I. gave to the Kingdom of Poland on 

 Nov. 27th, 1815, promised-tothe Poles a nation- 

 al representation in two Chambers, freedom of 

 the press, independence of the courts, respon- 

 sibility of the Ministers, and an independent 

 administration, which during the absence of the 

 Czar was to be conducted by a Viceroy. But 

 soon the Russian Government began to restrict 

 this Constitution. In 1819, the censorship of the 

 press was again introduced; in 1825, the bien- 

 nial representation and the publicity of the pro- 

 ceedings were abolished. On Nov. 29th, 1830, 

 a revolution broke out against the Russian rule. 

 But the insurgents were from the beginning 

 divided into two parties : an aristocratic one, 

 under the leadership of Czartoryski, Lubeczki, 

 Chlopicki, Michael Radzivill, etc., and a demo- 

 cratic one, under the leadership of Lelewel, etc. 

 The former made an attempt at a reconciliation 

 with the Czar, which, however, failed, as the 

 Czar demanded an unconditional surrender. On 

 Jan. 25th, 1831, the Diet excluded the House of 

 Manov forever from the Polish throne. The 

 insurrection was virtually suppressed Sept. 8th, 

 1831, by the surrender of the City of Warsaw. 

 The Russian Government maintained that the 

 Poles by their insurrection had forfeited those 

 rights which the Congress of Vienna had stip- 

 ulated for them, and consequently by a ukase of 

 Feb. 26th, 1832, abolished the Constitution of 



Nov. 27th, 1815. In the place of the Consti- 

 tution the Organic Statute of 14 (26) February, 

 1832, was issued. By it Poland was declared 

 a Russian province, the National Polish Army 

 dissolved, and the Polish recruits divided among 

 the Russian divisions ; a Council of State, whose 

 members need not be Poles, and were appointed 

 by the Emperor, was substituted for the Diet ; 

 the taxes were not used for Poland alone, but . 

 paid into the treasury of Russia ; religious and 

 personal freedom was again guaranteed. Eng- 

 land and France protested against this measure 

 of the Russian Government, as an infraction 

 of the spirit, if not of the letter, of the treaties 

 of Vienna. 



The legislation which was inaugurated in 

 1832, continued substantially until 1861. Alex- 

 ander II., who from the beginning of his reign 

 had shown a disposition to mitigate the rigor- 

 ous treatment Poland had received during the 

 reign of Nicholas L, tried to allay the excite- 

 ment which showed itself in the beginning of 

 the year 1861, by issuing a ukase, on 14th (26th) 

 March, 1861, which, beside conceding other re- 

 forms, reestablished the Conncil of State for the 

 Kingdom of Poland, and ordered all future of- 

 ficial acts to be in the name of the Emperor as 

 King of Poland. This was followed by another 

 ukase, of the 1st (13th) of January, 1862, which 

 suppressed the special department in the Coun- 

 cil of the Emperor for the affairs 'of Poland as 

 being superfluous, since the reestablishment of 

 the Council of State for the Kingdom Poland. 

 Other reforms followed in the course of the 

 year. The Russian Government seemed to en- 

 ter fully into the plan of the Polish Marquis 

 Wielopolski, who in 1831 had been one of the 

 heads of the insurrection, but had since com- 

 pletely changed his views, and for many years 

 devoted his great talents wholly to bringing 

 about a reconciliation between Russia and Po- 

 land. He had come to the conclusion, that 

 not a severance from Russia could lead to a 

 restoration of a Polish nationality, but that the 

 only way to attain this result was to gain the 

 sympathy and cooperation of Russia for uniting 

 all the formerly Polish provinces into one king- 

 dom under the supremacy of Russia. The Arch- 

 duke Constantino, in particular, a warm parti- 

 san of all measures of Panslavic tendency, be- 

 came the patron of this project, and was on May 

 27th (June 8th), 1862, appointed Namiestnik 

 (Administrator) of the kingdom, to attempt a 

 practical execution of the plan. In order to en- 

 list, if possible, the Roman Catholic clergy in 

 the scheme, the director of the Roman Catholic 

 Seminary of St. Petersburg, FelinskS, who 

 was regarded as staunchly loyal to the Impe- 

 rial Government, was appointed Archbishop of 

 Warsaw. Yet, all these efforts remained fruit- 

 less. But few of the influential Poles could be 

 gained over to this plan. On the contrary, 

 the national, anti-Russian party displayed new- 

 strength. A large number of the Polish noble- 

 men expressed their views on the reforms in- 

 troduced by Russia, in an address to Count 



