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POLAND. 



good faith, so destructive of the obligations of 

 treaties, and so fatal to all the international 

 ties which bind together the communities of 

 European States and Powers. Such an asser- 

 tion might have been made if the Emperor of 

 Russia had held Poland as part of the original 

 dominions of his crown, or if he had acquired 

 it by the unassisted success of his arms, or un- 

 sanctioned by the consent of any other Pow- 

 er. But the Emperor of Russia held Poland by 

 the solemn stipulation of a treaty made by 

 him with Great Britain, Austria, France, Prus- 

 sia, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, and the re- 

 volt of the Poles could not release him from 

 the engagements so contracted, 'nor obliterate 

 the signatures by which his plenipotentiaries 

 had concluded, and he himself had ratified, 

 those engagements. These engagements, in, 

 the opinion of the English Government, have 

 not been, nor are they now, faithfully carried 

 into execution by the Russian Government. 

 The English Government forbears to dwell 

 upon that long course of action, civil, nation- 

 al, and military, carried on by the Russian 

 Government within the Kingdom of Poland, of 

 which the Poles so loudly complain ; it would 

 rather advert to the much desired termina- 

 tion of their lamentable troubles. It is evi- 

 dent that even if Poland shall be reduced to 

 subjection, the remembrance of the events of 

 the struggle will long continue to make it the 

 bitter enemy of Russia, and a source of weak- 

 ness and of danger, instead of being an ele- 

 ment of security and of strength. The Eng- 

 lish Government would beg, moreover, to sub- 

 mit to the Imperial Government that, besides 

 the obligations of treaties, Russia, as a mem- 

 ber of the community of European States, has 

 duties of comity toward other nations to ful- 

 fil. The conditions of things which has now 

 for a long course of time existed in Poland, is 

 a source of danger, not to Russia alone, but 

 also to the general peace of Europe. The dis- 

 turbances which are perpetually breaking out 

 among the Polish subjects of his Imperial Maj- 

 esty necessarily produce a serious agitation of 

 opinion in other countries of Europe, tending 

 to excite much anxiety in the minds of their 

 Governments, and which might, under pos- 

 sible circumstances, produce complications of 

 the most serious nature. 



A second English despatch of the same date 

 (April 10th), gives an account of an important 

 conversation between Earl Russell and Baron 

 Brunnow. The baron asked whether the com- 

 munication which her Majesty's Government 

 was about to make to St. Petersburg would be 

 of a pacific nature. Earl Russell replied that it 

 would be, but that, as he did not wish to mislead 

 Baron Brunnow, he must say something more. 

 Her Majesty's Government had no intentions 

 that were otherwise than pacific, still less any 

 concert with other Powers for any but pacific 

 purposes. But the state of things might change. 

 The present overtures might be rejected, and 

 the insurrection continue to assume larger di- 



mensions ; if, in that case, the Emperor of Rus- 

 sia should take no conciliatory steps, dangers 

 and complications might arise not at present 

 in contemplation. Baron Brunnow, in re- 

 ply, stated that there were projects afloat for 

 altering the map of Europe, that in these pro- 

 jects compensations to Russia were concluded, 

 that Russia entered into none of these pro- 

 jects, and trusted Great Britain would do like- 

 wise. Earl Russell said it was the wish of 

 her Majesty's Government to do so ; but Rus- 

 sia had herself, in some cases, been active in 

 proposing and carrying into effect territorial 

 changes. But England trusted that the Emper- 

 or of Russia, by granting an amnesty and the 

 benefit of free institutions to Poland, would 

 put an end to this insurrection. 



The Austrian note, of April llth, directs the 

 attention of the Russian Government to the 

 pernicious influence of the Polish insurrection 

 upon the Austrian provinces. Grave embar- 

 rassments are thus occasioned to the Austrian 

 Government, which is therefore bound to at- 

 tach peculiar importance to prevent their re- 

 currence. By replacing the Polish provinces 

 subject to Russia in the conditions of a durable 

 peace, Russia would avert consequences disas- 

 trous to all Europe, but peculiarly to the coun- 

 tries which are more frequently affected by 

 conflicts that inevitably result in agitating pub- 

 lic opinion to a degree alarming for the vari- 

 ous Governments, and calculated, moreover, 

 to bring about serious complications. 



The replies of Russia to the Three Great 

 Powers are dated April 26th, and were pub- 

 lished by the Journal de St. Petersburg, of 

 May 3d. In his reply to England Prince Gort- 

 schakoff subdivides the English despatch into 

 two portions : the first relating to what may 

 be considered as the legal bearings of the Polish 

 question ; and the second to the expediency of 

 reestablishing peace in Poland upon a durable 

 basis. In regard to its legal obligations, the 

 Russian Minister thinks that his Government 

 can thoroughly vindicate its conduct. He cor- 

 rects the mistake into which he alleges that Earl 

 Russell had fallen when he stated in his despatch 

 that it was provided by that treaty that the 

 Duchy of Varsovia should be converted into a 

 Polish kingdom and joined to the Russian em- 

 pire under certain conditions. On the con- 

 trary, he points out, it was merely provided 

 that the subjects of Russian, Austrian and 

 Prussian Poland respectively should obtain " a 

 representation and national institutions regu- 

 lated after the mode of political existence 

 which each of the Governments to which they 

 appertained should judge it convenient to 

 accord to them." Prince Gortschakoff goes on 

 to say that Alexander I. gave a constitution to 

 Poland at the close of the year 1815, but this 

 act was purely spontaneous on his part, and, 

 so far from constituting an irrevocable engage- 

 ment toward the foreign Powers, was, in fact, 

 never communicated to them. The revolt of 

 1830, he says, had the effect of annulling the 





